The War of Shadows
by o Mischief Managed
Summary: Sequel to Blood and Sand. Erebos has risen, and war has descended on the world like a storm cloud. With the gods trapped in an enchanted sleep, the earth's liberation lies on the shoulders of their demigod children. But Percy soon learns that no matter how hard he fights the darkness, every light casts a shadow. And the closer you get to the light, the darker that shadow becomes.
1. I Percy

_*****ADDED NOTE: As with Blood and Sand, this was planned/outlined BEFORE House of Hades was released. Therefore, all the events from House of Hades AND Blood of Olympus did NOT happen in this timeline. Temporarily forget them before proceeding. Thank you, that is all. *****_

**I'M BAAAAAACK! Happy February, gang! How was everybody's holiday season? Good? Ready for this story finally? Awesome! I know it's been a bit, but like I said, I needed to take a break to work on Fire at Will. And now that I've made some strides on that, it's time I switch my focus back to this series! Woo-hoo!**

**So this chapter will look extremely familiar to those of you who've already read Blood and Sand (which, might I add, you MUST do before reading this, otherwise you'll be scratching the hair from your head). I haven't changed anything, so you can either re-read it or skip it and wait for the next chapter, whatever you want to do.**

**I can't remember if I pointed this out at the end of Blood and Sand, but War of Shadows is gonna be a considerable bit darker than its predecessor (I mean, the bad guy is the _king of darkness_. I suppose that should go without saying). It's not gonna be a huge, humor-free angst fest by any means. I just want you all to be prepared for some darker moments and some major focus on dark-vs-light and all that fun stuff. It's gonna be a bumpy ride, but one I can't wait to get started on.**

**Ready to step on my crazy train again, gang? It's gonna be another nice long, cross-country drive—but by no means relaxing. ALL ABOARD—HEEEEEERE WE GO!**

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><p><strong>I<br>PERCY**

For the first time in years, Percy dreamed of the beach.

And not just any beach, but his favorite beach at Montauk, where he and his mother used to spend weekends when he was a kid. He remembered long, blissful afternoons building sandcastles, racing through the tide, or playing in the cold, salty ocean, not a care in the world except maybe tripping on a rock or stepping on a crab. He didn't know at the time that those simple days would end up the happiest of his life.

But now, as he stood on the sand and looked out over the water, his favorite beach looked nothing like it used to. There was no sound, no movement—no life. The usual assortment of tourists was nowhere to be seen. The air and ocean were perfectly still—almost like a painting, but without the friendly charm. In real time, the absolute silence was ominous. There was something empty about the way the sand sat heavily on the beach, no wind to rustle it about, and the way the water lay dead and cold and soulless.

The sky above was dark and devoid of stars, but that much wasn't new. For over a month now, the world had been deadlocked in a permanent midnight, black and lightless as though covered in a shadowy blanket. Percy had gotten used to seeing in the dark, but that didn't mean he didn't miss the light. He'd almost forgotten what the sun looked like after so many days without it.

But that was why they fought—so that one day the clouds would clear and daylight would shine again. The prophecy predicted that the Shadow War, as they'd come to call it, wouldn't last forever. Though, if truth be told, it wasn't exactly specific about time, either. For all he knew, the war could go on for lifetimes.

Percy looked out to his left, where he could just barely see the top of the Montauk Point Lighthouse in the distance. Its beacon swept lazily across the still ocean surface, as if searching desperately for some form of life. But there was nothing to find. As a kid, he had always been awed by the lighthouse—by the idea of a single building with one great light shining bright enough to guide lost sailors back to shore. But now, watching it send its signal over empty air and quiet seas, yearning for a sign of hope, it struck him as sad. It reminded him of himself and his friends—lost and alone and trying their hardest to shine brightly in a world so dark and empty. And what would happen when that last light went out—when the darkness became complete? Was there even any hope left at all?

"If you think like that, then he's already won."

Percy jumped so badly he nearly fell over onto the sand. He spun around and stared in shock at the man standing behind him, eyes widening and heart skipping at least three beats. "_Dad?_"

Poseidon smiled, though Percy noticed that there was sadness in his eyes. "Hello, Percy," he said quietly.

"What are you—?" Percy stammered, thrown off balance by the sudden appearance of the Sea God. "I-I mean, how did you—? Why are you _here?_" He fixed his father with an incredulous stare. The god was dressed in his usual beach attire, like he'd been caught mid-vacation at Montauk rather than in the dream of his demigod son in the middle of a magical war.

"I can't drop in on my favorite son's dreams?" Poseidon asked innocently.

Percy glared at him. "You know what I mean," he insisted, anger starting to rise. "Where in Hades have you guys _been?_ We haven't heard from a single god since the start of the war—I know you don't like to interfere, but this is taking it a step too far, don't you think?"

A pained look crossed the god's face and he released a heavy sigh, like he'd just gotten home from a long, trying day at work. "Percy, you need to understand," he said carefully. "As soon as I heard what had happened, I wanted to help. But you know how the council is. The decision came too late. By the time it was agreed upon, Nyx had already cast her spell and freed her brother."

"But that was weeks ago!" Percy pointed out defiantly. He knew it wasn't _exactly_ a smart move, yelling at a god. But at the moment, he didn't _exactly_ care. "What have you been doing since then, sitting on your thrones telling jokes?"

Poseidon gave a humorless smile. "You're half-right," he admitted, causing his son to narrow his eyes in disbelief. "Listen, we don't have much time before he realizes I've reached out to you. Percy… the other gods and I need your help."

"What?" Percy said, his anger starting to ebb away like a receding tide. "What do you mean?"

"After Nyx accomplished her task on the night of the lunar eclipse, the first thing she made sure to do was remove us from the equation," the god explained, his voice low and urgent. "She trapped us all in a deep sleep, binding us on Mount Olympus."

"You're asleep?" Percy repeated with a frown. "But… how?"

"My guess is she called upon one of her children," Poseidon replied. "The only being capable of something like this."

Realization struck Percy and his throat tightened uncomfortably. A voice repeated in his head, bringing back a memory from not long ago: _'If my father wanted to, he could put the gods themselves to slumber.' _"Hypnos," he said aloud.

"Yes."

"But… I've met Hypnos," Percy argued, thinking back to their stay last month at the Cloud Nine Hotel—a high-class, five-star hotel owned and managed by the god of sleep and his three sons, the Dream Brothers. "He didn't… Well, he wasn't exactly first in line to be Nyx's campaign manager."

"I don't believe he helped her of his own will," Poseidon agreed, touching his chin and frowning thoughtfully. "The Queen of Night has power over her immortal children. It's possible she forced Hypnos to put us to sleep."

"So… what do you want us to do?" Percy asked.

"Someone must find Hypnos and free him so he can lift his spell," the Sea God said. "And before you ask, no, I don't know where Nyx is keeping him. Neither of them is on Olympus. She must be hiding somewhere she believes is safe." Suddenly his eyes sharpened and he shot a glance over his shoulder at something Percy couldn't see. "I'm afraid that's all the information I can give you," he said, tension in his voice. "Our time is up."

"Wait a minute," Percy said quickly, still not completely understanding what he had to do. "How are we supposed to find them? Isn't there any other way to wake you guys up?"

Poseidon shook his head, looking regretful. "No one but Hypnos himself has power like this over sleep. I'm sorry to do this to you, son. I know you and your friends have been through a lot, and what I'm asking is no easy task. But if we have any hope of winning this war, the god of sleep must be freed." He smiled, but again Percy could clearly see the painful sadness in those sea-green eyes that perfectly mirrored his own. "Good luck, Percy. Remember that you—"

All of a sudden, a dark shadow—darker even than the lightless sky—passed over him, cutting off his voice. "Wait!" Percy yelled, running forward and reaching toward the darkness. "Dad! Hold on! I still don't—" He skidded to a halt as the shadow shifted and formed a humanoid shape. A second later, standing before him on the beach was a tall man with pale skin and sleek, finely-gelled black hair that just brushed his shoulders. He was dressed in a crisp, all-black tuxedo that was impossibly clean and devoid of even the slightest wrinkle, complete with dark gloves and shoes so shiny they looked like black glass. The onyx buttons on his double-breasted tailcoat were round and covered in pointed, inch-long spikes, just in case he wanted to hug and stab someone at the same time. His hands rested on the ornate handle of a walking cane that looked to be made of volcanic glass. He could have been just your average billionaire out for a stroll in the nonexistent moonlight, except for the sharp, obsidian crown atop his head and the smoking, shadowy voids where his eyes should have been.

"The son of the Storm-bringer," he said with a cruel smile, causing Percy to unwillingly remember a certain line of their most recent prophecy. "We meet at last." The man's voice was a low whisper, like wind on a quiet night, and caused the hairs on the back of Percy's neck to stand on end. He staggered backward, suddenly feeling trapped and lost, like his will to fight had been swept away.

"Erebos," he said, knowing without a doubt that he was looking at the King of Darkness himself.

"I believe thanks are in order," Erebos said, walking slowly forward across the beach. With each step he took, the sand beneath his feet turned black like burned embers. "Without you, I would still be trapped in my Underworld prison. I suppose one could say all this," he spread his hands and gestured to the shadowy darkness around them, then pointed the end of his cane toward Percy and smirked, "is because of you."

Percy knew that wasn't true. He'd replayed the night of the eclipse over and over in his head for weeks. Nyx had been about to kill Jason Grace. Percy had shoved him out of the way at the last second, which had resulted in his taking the blade instead. Fueled by adrenaline, he hadn't even realized he'd been cut until they'd escaped the Queen of Night, thinking they'd won. It was only after that that he'd understood that Nyx had been able to use his blood to raise her brother, Erebos. He'd felt guilty at first, but he'd come to terms with what had happened. After all, if he'd done nothing, Nyx would have killed Jason, which would have been exponentially worse.

Even so, hearing Erebos tell him everything was his fault actually made him start to believe it. Was there any other way he could have saved Jason that didn't end in his getting hurt instead? Could he have done a better job of stalling Nyx long enough for the eclipse to end? And what about New Rome—all the people who'd been sacrificed to the earth? When Percy had gotten himself taken in by the Fury Alecto in order to find Jason, couldn't there have been another way to escape that underground prison and help his friends? Could all of that pain have been avoided if only he was stronger and more careful?

_No_, his rational side (which oftentimes sounded a lot like his girlfriend, Annabeth) interrupted. _Snap out of it! It's his aura—it's messing with your head. You can't lose hope, that's exactly what he wants._

Percy shook his head and stepped backward away from the god, who fixed him with an amused smile. "Know this, Percy Jackson," Erebos said in his calm, whispering voice, shadows seeming to seep from his empty eye sockets. "You may think yourself safe and protected. But this is a ruse. Darkness has a way of creeping into even the brightest places, sneaking unnoticed until someone turns off the light."

He lowered his head toward the ground, and Percy glanced down to see that the darkness beneath the god was spreading, turning the sand all around him to ash. Percy stumbled backward as the blackness stretched toward him, but it was too fast. The sand beneath his feet turned hard and dead, burned like tiny coals, and he felt a strong, invisible force grabbing at his ankles as he began to sink into the shadowy ground. He cried out in surprise and struggled to free himself, but like quicksand, the ashes only pulled him down faster.

"We will meet again," Erebos said, watching with satisfaction as the sand reached Percy's chest and he continued to sink. "Remember this: Without darkness, there can be no light. But without light, there is only darkness. My shadow will consume all." He spread his hands and smiled, and the image of his dark, empty eyes burned into Percy's mind before the scorched sand closed over his head.

Then he woke to the sound of screams.

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><p><strong>Yay cliffhangers! As you all know by now, I absolutely love them. Expect quite a few in chapters to come, haha.<strong>

**So all kidding aside, I should have Chapter 2 up tomorrow since this first one is nothing new. I'm sticking with the same 4-narrator cycled structure with three chapters per character, though as you can already see I'm switching up the characters. Can't wait to delve into a few more new ones!**

**So throw me a review if you feel so inclined to let me know you're with me, and look for the update this time tomorrow! Later days!**

**-oMM**


	2. II Percy

**Hi again! I'm back, as promised, since the last chapter was one you already read. Don't expect all my updates to be this fast though, haha. I don't like to take too long, but two days in a row is highly uncommon.**

**This chapter's a lot of fun, I think. A good gateway to what's going on nowadays with the gang. It was really fun to write, too. You'll see :)**

**Thanks to everybody that reviewed/followed the first chapter! Ready for something new? Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>II<br>PERCY**

Waking to a world just as dark as sleep was highly disorienting, and if it wasn't for the angry voice screaming in Percy's ear it would have taken him a considerably longer time to regain his bearings.

"Wake _up_, Seaweed Brain! Gods, you sleep like a freaking rock!"

"Annabeth?" he recognized the voice, blinking rapidly to try and clear the sleep from his eyes. The image of Erebos and his dark, hollow eyes was still burned into his mind, threatening to drag him back into oblivion. But around him he could hear a girl screaming and a vicious growling, and those sounds were hardly ever a prelude to something fun. He shook his head and his eyesight finally focused on his girlfriend kneeling over him on the forest floor, her knife in her hand and her expression wild.

"Ugh, _finally!_" she said, sounding exasperated. "I was about ready to start smacking you. Get up, we've got trouble!" She stood and dashed away, seeming to run in time with the music.

_Wait… Music?_ Confused, Percy sat up and looked toward where Annabeth had gone, feeling his stomach leap into his throat as he took in the view of their campsite—or, what used to be their campsite. Now it was the wooded hunting ground for a pack of horse-sized hellhounds.

With a yelp, Percy jumped to his feet, digging a hand in his pocket and fumbling for his shape-shifting ballpoint pen. He pulled it out and yanked the cap free, feeling the familiar blade of his sword, Riptide, extend to full length in his hand, before rushing toward the nearest monster. It seemed to notice him at the last second and its lip curled back in a snarl as it leaned back on its haunches and leapt into the air. Percy skidded to a halt and dove to the side to avoid being skewered by the six-inch claws aimed at his chest. He rolled on the ground and came up in a crouch as the hound whipped toward him with a growl. Immediately it bounded forward and aimed a fast, powerful swipe of its paw. Percy swung his blade and deflected the blow, before spinning around and landing a slice across one of the hound's front legs. It howled and lunged forward, opening its jaws wide, and once again Percy threw himself to the side just in time for its teeth to snap closed around empty air. As he stepped backward and regained his footing, the hellhound turned to face him, growling as if to say, _Stop squirming! I'm hungry!_ Then it pounced again, but this time, rather than dodge around it, Percy ducked low and dove forward, twisting on the ground and dragging his sword along the hellhound's belly. With a loud whine, it dissolved into dust—dust that fell in an extremely gross and uncomfortable blanket right on top of him.

Coughing and brushing monster bits from his face, he climbed to his feet and spun around, colliding instantly with something hard and knocking himself and the other object to the ground. The music he'd heard earlier came to an abrupt halt and he rolled over to come face to face with Grover, who was rubbing his nose with a pained expression.

"Good, you're awake," he said, shouting over the commotion around them. "Why are you covered in—?"

"Don't ask," Percy interrupted, helping his friend to his feet and trying to brush more hellhound-dust from his clothes. "Where are Annabeth and the girls?" he asked, noticing that the others (including the remainder of the hound pack) had disappeared.

"Over there." Grover jerked a hand over his shoulder. "I was keeping the girls hidden so they wouldn't—" Suddenly he broke off, his eyes widening. "My pipes," he said frantically, dropping to his knees and running his hands along the grassy forest floor. "Where are my pipes?"

"Here," Percy said, leaning down and picking them up while simultaneously realizing that they must have been the source of the music he'd heard. As Grover took them, a shrill scream pierced the air and both boys cringed.

"Uh-oh," Grover muttered.

"Come on!" Percy sprinted past Grover and through a line of trees until he found the source of the scream—Lydia, one of the two young demigod sisters that Percy, Grover, and Annabeth had been dispatched to escort to Camp Half-Blood, was standing alone with her back against a tree and a snarling hellhound leaning back to pounce at her.

"Lydia, get down!" Percy yelled, running toward her without hesitation. Her wide, fearful eyes turned toward him before she followed his order, ducking to a crouch and throwing her hands over her head. The hellhound tensed and leapt into the air and at the last second Percy threw himself between the monster and the girl, jabbing forward with Riptide and driving the blade between the hound's open jaws. Its teeth scraped his forearm just before the beast turned to dust with an angry howl.

He'd barely lowered his sword before Lydia's small arms threw themselves around his waist and he stumbled forward, surprised that a ten-year-old girl could have so much force. "You saved me!" she said, squeezing him in an uncomfortable, bone-crushing hug.

"Uh… It was nothing," Percy said awkwardly, trying to twist around and pry her arms away from him. "Look, I've… gotta go find Annabeth and your sister. Why don't you stay here with Grover until we get back?" She finally let go and nodded vigorously, the bright smile on her face seeming strangely uncharacteristic for a girl who was almost just mauled by a hellhound. Percy exchanged a glance and a nod with Grover before turning and dashing off through the trees again, heading toward the sounds of fighting not far away.

Seeing movement through the darkness a few yards away, he shoved his way through a thick brush of bushes and skidded to a halt between two trees. In the small clearing beyond them, Annabeth was squaring off against three hellhounds while a fourth stalked a slow, threatening circle around Lydia's twelve-year-old sister, Tyler. Annabeth may have been in more danger, but she was also a highly experienced fighter and would probably scold Percy if he tried to help her before the younger girl. So seeing as he wanted to avoid his girlfriend's wrath wherever possible, he sprinted toward Tyler after only a brief moment of hesitation.

When the hound reared back onto its two hind legs and growled, ready to tackle the young girl in front of it, Percy felt a jolt as he realized he wouldn't make it over there in time. Gritting his teeth, he dug his feet into the ground and yelled, "Tyler, duck!" She turned back to face him and stumbled, falling to a sitting position on the ground. _That'll work,_ he thought with a half-shrug. Then he pulled his arm back and flung Riptide like a javelin as the hellhound dropped to all fours and darted forward, opening its jaws wide and aiming to sink its teeth into its prize. Tyler screamed and scooted backward, but before the giant dog reached her Percy's sword sliced across its nose. It fell back and swung its head to the side with a loud whine.

"Hey, Fido!" Percy called to the monster. "Why don't you pick on something your own size? Like, I don't know, a lawn mower." The hellhound turned toward him with a snarl, its earlier conquest forgotten. He felt a rush of triumph as it started past Tyler, but that quickly vanished when he realized that now a seven-foot-tall, two-thousand-pound monster was eyeing him up like a demigod sirloin and, as his sword had gone whizzing away and had yet to return to his pocket, he had no weapon. "Oops," he muttered, the adrenaline starting to freeze in his veins like ice. _Oh, well,_ he thought. _Only one thing to do._ Then he shouted, "How 'bout a nice game of fetch?" and turned and bolted through the trees to his left, hoping the hound would be angry enough—or dumb enough—to follow him.

As it turned out, it was, because he heard snarling mixed with the pounding of paws and the rough snapping of branches behind him not a second later. He weaved his way through the trees, not wanting to get too far away from Annabeth and the others but knowing he needed to buy himself time until Riptide reappeared in his pocket. He didn't exactly relish battling the hound's fangs and claws with only his bare hands.

After a minute or so, he shot a glance over his shoulder to see if the hellhound had gained on him, but of course he couldn't make it out through the complete darkness of the thick New Jersey forest. He faced forward with a scowl and realized he was roughly 0.5 seconds away from colliding headlong with the trunk of a tree. "Whoa!" he stammered in surprised, dragging his feet and veering off to the side. This, of course, caused him to trip over something—a root or a fallen log, it was difficult to tell in the dark—and lose his balance. He fell forward and landed on his shoulder, rolling a few feet into what felt like a small ditch.

With a groan, Percy sat up and shook his head, rubbing a sore bruise on the back of his shoulder. He climbed to his feet and turned toward the direction he thought he'd come from before it finally hit him where he was standing—he'd somehow stumbled into a shallow forest stream and was now ankle-deep in cool, trickling water. He hadn't noticed right away because, of course, the water swirled around him without dampening his clothes, just like it always did. He kicked a rock on the bed of the stream and smirked—he may not have had a sword, but at least now he had a weapon.

The snap of a stick caught his attention and he glanced up, waiting for the hellhound to make an appearance. His eyes studied the darkness for any sign of movement, but the monster must have been making an effort to remain still and quiet, because for a long minute nothing happened. Percy clucked his tongue in annoyance, wishing the thing would show itself, when finally a loud roar interrupted the silence as the hound leapt through the trees, claws and teeth aimed directly for its prey. Percy tensed and dropped to a crouch. He clenched both hands into fists and pulled them slowly upward, feeling a tightness in his gut as the water began to rise and twist into spires on either side of him. Then he thrust both hands toward the monster and just before it reached him the water swelled forward, tightening into swirling spikes. They impaled the hound in the chest between its two front legs and it howled shrilly before dissolving into dust, falling to the forest floor amid the few gallons of now-lifeless water.

Percy brushed his hands off and stepped out of the stream just as he finally felt the familiar weight of his ballpoint pen returning to his pocket. He reached in and pulled it out with a frown. "Great," he muttered. "_Now_ it comes back." Uncapping it, he ran off into the trees, following the sounds of fighting up ahead. Luckily, he hadn't led his hellhound far, and in a minute he was back in the small clearing.

Annabeth had evidently disposed of one of the remaining three hellhounds, dropping the opposition to two. Though the two monsters separate her from Percy, he could see a bloody gash on her arm and a pained glare on her face as she shielded Tyler from the snarling hounds, her knife held in her left hand. After only a short few seconds to survey the area, Percy surged toward them, figuring that now Annabeth wouldn't spurn his help.

He reached the hound on the left just as Annabeth used her blade to parry a vicious bite from the hound on the right. Her gaze flitted toward him as he sliced Riptide across the monster's back leg, causing it to stumble and growl. It turned toward him and he ducked a wild swing of its claws before stabbing it in the side. He was rewarded with yet another coating of black dust as a result.

Annabeth must have succeeded in wounding the last hellhound, because it had backed away and was growling more fiercely than ever. Percy ran toward it just as it prepared to pounce at Annabeth and Tyler. Tyler screamed and threw her hands over her head, and suddenly a mess of thick vines sprang out of the earth, flailing about wildly. Percy skidded to a halt and staggered, surprised, before one slammed him across the chest and sent him flying backward. As his back collided painfully with a tree, he heard a mournful whine from the hound which must have meant it had been hit as well. Then everything seemed to quiet all at once.

Dazed from the impact, Percy struggled to his feet and leaned back against the tree, rolling his shoulders. "You okay?" a voice asked, and he blinked hard to steady his vision before looking up to see Annabeth and Tyler stepping up to him.

"Fine," he answered his girlfriend, frowning down at her arm. "What about you?"

Annabeth shook her head and gave a half-smile. "I'm okay. It's not as bad as it looks."

Percy nodded and turned to Tyler, fixing her with a slightly incredulous stare. "Those vines," he said. "That… Was that you?"

Tyler bit her lip and glanced at the ground, shuffling her feet. "I don't know," she answered. "I think so." When she looked back up at him, there was guilt in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Percy," she said quietly. "I was scared. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Nah, it's fine," he insisted, standing up straight and waving a hand in an effort to allay her worry. "It was an accident. Besides, you took out that hellhound, didn't you? If I were you, I'd be feeling pretty awesome right now." He grinned and she glanced down again with a small smile, seemingly avoiding his eyes, and a light blush colored her face.

"So you've got something of an affinity for plants," Annabeth said thoughtfully, her eyebrows creasing in a slight frown as she tapped her chin. "You don't know your godly parent, but judging from that, I'd guess Demeter or Dionysus would be the most likely. Maybe even Hecate—her children tend to be capable of all kinds of different forms of magic." She sighed and shook her head, letting her hands drop to her sides. "I suppose we won't know until the gods decide to reopen contact with us. It sure would be nice to hear from them once in a while, what with everything that's been going on."

A cold chill snaked down Percy's spine as he suddenly remembered the dream he'd been woken up from—the dream in which his father had paid an unexpected visit. He would have to tell the others about it, but at the moment they had more important matters to focus on. "We should treat everybody who's hurt and get moving," he said aloud, shooting a glance back toward where he'd left Grover and Lydia. "You know, just on the off chance those hellhounds have some friends nearby."

Annabeth shrugged in agreement. "Stranger things have happened," she said grimly.

The trio headed back toward where they'd made camp and found Grover and Lydia safe and sound, along with all of their things. After distributing a bit of ambrosia to anyone who needed it, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover hefted their packs and did their best to remove any signs of their presence in the area.

"Do we have to keep going already?" Lydia asked, her voice a bit of a whine. "I'm _tired_."

"Sorry, Lydia," Annabeth said gently. "But we can't stick around any longer. You don't want another monster attack, do you?" The sisters exchanged skeptical glances, like they didn't quite believe that the frequency of supernatural run-ins could be that high. Boy, did they have a lot to learn.

"Hey, the sooner we leave, the sooner we get there, right?" Percy pointed out, trying for a different approach. "I promise, you can rest all you want when we get to Camp."

"Okay," Lydia said at once, her features brightening. Then, abruptly, she skipped over and grabbed Percy's left arm with both hands, saying with a grin, "But I'm walking with Percy!"

"Me too," Tyler added, suddenly appearing on his right and linking his other arm through hers before he could fully register what was happening.

Hearing Grover stifle an amused snort, Percy felt his ears redden. "Uh, actually…" he said uncertainly, a bit embarrassed at their sudden affection. He slid his arms from their grips and placed a hand on each girl's shoulder as he suggested, "Why don't you guys take point with Grover? I, uh… need to talk to Annabeth."

"Awww," they both complained in perfect unison.

"We'd feel way safer with you," Tyler said. "You killed all those monsters."

Lydia leaned close and whispered too loudly, "And he smells like the zoo."

"Hey!" Grover said indignantly, amusement apparently forgotten. "I heard that! I do _not_ smell like the zoo! I'll have you know other animals will hardly come near me because I smell too much like _you_ people." Percy shot Grover a wounded, pleading sort of look, and he sighed shortly in admission. "Alright, alright," he said. "Come on, girls. Let me show you guys some tracking magic while we walk—it's how I found out about you two in the first place."

"Really?" Lydia asked, her interest evidently piqued.

"Yeah," Annabeth spoke up, and Percy noticed she was standing beside them with her arms folded across her chest. "Grover's our best tracker. Without him, our camp would be half the size it is today."

Tyler and Lydia exchanged a glance, before turning and throwing wide, identical smiles at Percy, who grinned back somewhat awkwardly. Then, strangely, they both shot looks at Annabeth that could only be described as glares, before hurrying toward Grover and together leading the way out of their clearing.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at the girls' backs as they walked away, talking excitedly. "I killed some of those hellhounds, too, you know," she said, and Percy wasn't sure if she was talking to him or to no one in particular. Either way, the look on her face told him he should probably keep quiet so as to avoid saying the wrong thing. "It's not like I _ask_ for credit, but a little bit of appreciation _would_ be nice. But no, they'd rather idolize _you_ just 'cause you're hot."

Percy blinked. "What?"

She glanced over and her hard expression softened into an amused and almost sympathetic smile. The look on his face must have been pretty funny, because she chuckled and said, "They've both got major crushes on you. You couldn't tell?"

He tried to mask the surprised embarrassment on his face, but judging by the slight twinkle in Annabeth's eyes, he'd failed miserably. So instead, he did what he did best and went for a sarcastic approach. "What," he said wryly, "don't tell me you're jealous."

Her eyebrows shot up. "You caught me," she said with a small smile, taking a step closer to him and bumping her shoulder against his arm. "But I'm prepared to fight them for you if I have to. So who should I be more afraid of—the ten-year-old or the twelve-year-old?"

"I don't know," he replied, setting a hand on her waist. "That power of Tyler's might give you a run for your money."

"I'll take that chance," she said with a light smirk, before twisting her free hand in the collar of his jacket and leaning up to touch her lips to his. A warm, electric sort of feeling snaked through him as he leaned into her and he probably could have stayed like that for hours. With everything going on lately, they two of them hadn't had much time alone together—not since the Shadow War had started. But after a few too-short seconds, Annabeth pulled back and said quietly, "We should catch up to the others."

"Aw, they can handle themselves," Percy argued. But when Annabeth shot him a pointed look, he sighed and conceded. "Alright, alright. Let's go."

As they started through the forest after the rest of their party, Annabeth asked in an amused voice, "So did you really need to talk to me, or were you just trying to get rid of the girls?"

Her tone was light, but the question brought back flashes from Percy's dream and despite the July night air he suddenly felt cold. She probably expected a joke in return, but for once he couldn't stomach it, and instead he said seriously, "Before you woke me, I had a dream."

Annabeth's wry smile faded, her eyebrows drawing together. She knew as well as he did that demigod dreams rarely brought them any good news. "What kind of dream?"

He hesitated, drawing an uncertain breath. "I saw my dad."

She turned to stare at him, eyes widening. "You mean he talked to you? For real?"

"Yeah." He thought back to his and Poseidon's brief conversation, replaying it in his head. "He said that… the reason we haven't heard from the gods is because they're all stuck in some enchanted sleep on Mount Olympus. Nyx has Hypnos somewhere; they think she's forcing him to help her."

"That's terrible," Annabeth said, her eyes glancing at the forest floor and a flash of fear sparking across her face. "There has to be something we can do."

"My dad think so, too," Percy agreed. "He said we need to find where Nyx is keeping Hypnos and figure out a way to set him free. They he can wake the rest of the gods and maybe turn the tides of the war."

She breathed out slowly, looking deep in thought. "That'll be dangerous," she pointed out. "He didn't give you any clues about where to look?"

Percy shook his head. "He only said they're not on Mount Olympus. Other than that, no one knows."

"We'll have to hold a meeting when we get back," Annabeth decided. "We'll all discuss this and… figure something out." Percy nodded, and she turned to face him again and asked, "Was there anything else? In your dream."

"I…" His voice trailed off as images flashed behind his eyes. Another unwarranted chill swept down his spine and he had to fight to keep from visibly shaking. "Erebos," he finally said, his voice strangely weak and strained—almost as though the King of Darkness was standing right in front of him once again. "I met Erebos."

This time Annabeth froze, stopping in her tracks and staring at Percy with wide eyes as he turned around to face her. "You… what?"

"He figured out my dad tried to contact me and… I don't know, intercepted it somehow." The memory of the god's dark, empty eyes pushed to the surface and Percy cringed, unable to stop himself. "He was there, Annabeth. I saw him."

She frowned, probably sensing his sudden discomfort. "What was he like?"

Percy shook his head and blinked, and when he didn't answer right away Annabeth stepped up and slid her hand into his, squeezing his fingers and sending a shock of warmth cutting through the cold darkness that had come over him. Relaxing a bit, he swallowed hard and said, "Scary." It wasn't a joke, and Annabeth didn't laugh. The crease between her eyebrows tightened, worry in her eyes. "Even in the dream, his aura was really strong. I couldn't fight him—couldn't even stand up to him."

"You mean he's like Nyx?" she asked apprehensively.

He knew what she meant. Last month, they'd learned the hard way that Nyx, the Queen of Night, had a godly aura that sapped a person's strength, draining the energy from your body. But he shook his head. "No, it was different. With Nyx, I remember I _couldn't_ fight back. But with Erebos, it was like… like I _wanted_ to just lie down and die. Like… my will to fight was just gone."

"So Night drains strength," Annabeth summed up quietly, "and Darkness drains will. How are we ever gonna win this?"

"I don't know." Surprisingly, he meant it.

As they slowly started walking again, Annabeth spoke up, "Did Erebos… you know, say anything?"

Though he didn't want to, Percy forced his mind to recall his and Erebos's brief conversation—though the image of those eyes, those swirling clouds of blackness, kept swimming in and out of his focus. "Just some stuff about how darkness is more powerful than light—how we can't escape him. He said we'd meet again, him and me. That we aren't as safe as we think we are."

"Well, that's comforting," Annabeth said sarcastically, "because I feel _so_ safe already."

Percy managed an amused snicker, telling himself that at least for now, it didn't matter what the King of Darkness said in a dream. He knew his friends, and he knew they wouldn't give up the fight so easily. They'd made it this far, after all. Maybe Erebos wasn't as strong as he thought he was.

After a few minutes of silence, the sound of leaves rustling ahead caught their attention just before Grover and the girls suddenly appeared—though, for some reason, they were coming _toward_ Percy and Annabeth.

"You guys took your time," Grover whispered when he was close enough.

Frowning and lowering his voice in kind, Percy asked, "Why are we whispering?"

"Something's up ahead," the satyr replied seriously.

Percy shot a glance at Tyler and Lydia, who were standing next to each other and looking worried. Then he looked at Annabeth and whispered, "You guys stay here. I'll check it out." For good measure, he pulled Riptide out of his pocket and uncapped it, just in case of another surprise monster attack. Annabeth nodded and pulled out her knife as Percy started forward, doing his best to keep silent as his eyes studied the darkness for movement.

He'd gone a few yards with no opposition and was about to turn back when he heard a light _smack_, like a leaf being swatted aside. He whipped around just in time to see a small flash of light whip through the darkness before a vice-like grip grabbed his shoulder and yanked him backward against a tree. He yelled in surprise and tried to jerk away, only to realize that he was stuck. He glanced to the side and saw why—a silver arrow was through his sleeve, pinning him by his jacket to the tree trunk.

"What the…?" he muttered, reaching toward the arrow. He gripped the shaft and tried to pull it out, but it wouldn't budge.

"Whoops," a girl's amused voice said suddenly. "Sorry, Percy."

A shock ran through Percy as he recognized the voice. He knew who he'd see even before she stepped through the trees, bow at her side. "_Thalia?_" he said in disbelief.

Thalia Grace folded her arms, silver hoodie and diadem barely illuminating the smirk on her face. "You should clean yourself up," she said. "Thought you were a monster."

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><p><strong>Hooray! It feels so good to finally be rolling with this. I can't tell you how excited I am. Does that make me sound lame? Probably, haha. But whatever.<strong>

**Reviews are love, you guys! Hearing from you makes me super happy! Dunno when the next update will be 'cause I haven't started it yet. But probably early next week. No later, for sure.**

**Later days!**

**-oMM**


	3. III Percy

**Hi gang! I said I'd update next week, but I didn't feel like waiting. This chapter's a bit on the short side, so I figured, why not?**

**Time for a little background. Thanks, everybody who read/reviewed! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>III<br>PERCY**

Percy should have stopped being surprised by now when Thalia didn't age. The last time he'd seen her had been almost a year ago, during the Giant War the previous summer when she and the Hunters of Artemis had joined the battle overseas. And now here she was again, standing there in the woods with her permanent appearance of a fifteen-year-old girl. At first, it wasn't a big deal. But the older he got, the stranger it seemed.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her as he stared at her in shock.

She shrugged. "I could ask you the same thing."

"You know what I mean," he argued, shaking his head. "What happened to you guys? We haven't heard from you since before the Shadow War started."

Thalia's smirk faded, her expression turning serious. "The Shadow War," she repeated almost sullenly. "So that's what you're calling this."

Just then, Annabeth emerged from the darkness, saying, "Percy, what's going on? We heard voices—" She broke off and stared as her gaze fell on Thalia. Then a grin slid across her face and without a word she rushed forward, throwing her arms around her friend. Thalia stumbled and laughed, returning the embrace readily.

"Nice to see you, too, Annabeth," she said, the smile back on her face. She grinned over Annabeth's shoulder at Grover, who had just led Tyler and Lydia through a pair of trees.

"Are the rest of the Hunters here?" Grover asked after greeting her.

Thalia jerked her head in the direction she'd come from. "Some of 'em. They're a few yards back, packing up camp."

"So what are you guys doing out here?" Annabeth asked, stepping back and folding her arms across her chest. "We've been worried since we haven't heard from you."

Thalia opened her mouth to respond, but Percy interrupted, "Wait, hold the phone." He pointed to the silver arrow still pinning his sleeve to the tree trunk and said, "A little help here?"

Thalia snorted in amusement and stalked up to Percy and his tree as Annabeth raised an eyebrow and asked, "What happened?"

"What do you think?" he replied dryly. Thalia reached up and grabbed the arrow, yanking back on it, but when it didn't pull free or even so much as shift position, Percy rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, thanks, I tried that."

As Thalia shrugged, he tightened his grip on Riptide with his free hand and raised his arm, swinging the blade down to slice the arrow in half. Thalia's eyes widened and she shouted, "No, don't—!" right before the Celestial bronze _clanged_ against the arrow shaft, glancing to the side and jarring Percy's arm. He staggered a bit, surprised, and Thalia placed her hands on her hips and said, "You idiot. That's Olympian steel. You won't break it with _that_. You won't break it with _anything_."

"Well, you got any other bright ideas, then?" Percy shot back. "'Cause I don't plan on spending the rest of my life stuck to this tree. This isn't exactly the most comfortable—"

"Alright, alright, cool down," Thalia responded. She stepped back and cocked her head to the side. "Why don't you just take off your jacket?"

"Can't," he argued, tugging at the material. "You got my shirt, too."

"Hmm," she muttered. The corner of her mouth twitched upward and she looked sideways at him as she suggested with an odd air of innocence, "You could take your shirt off. I won't stop you."

He glared pointedly at her. "I'm not stripping for you," he said dryly.

He heard Annabeth stifle a giggle as Thalia shrugged and gave a short sigh, saying, "Can't blame a girl for trying. Annabeth, give me your knife." When Annabeth obliged and handed it over, Thalia flipped it in her hand and stalked up to Percy's tree. "Hold still," she ordered.

"You're not gonna cut my arm off, are you?" he asked, only half-joking.

She arched an eyebrow. "If you don't hold still, I might." Gripping the knife steadily, Thalia brought the blade near the shaft of the arrow and sliced it carefully through the fabric of Percy's jacket and shirt sleeve. He felt the pull of the steel arrow vanish, finally allowing him to lower his arm. Stiff, he straightened and swung it in a circle before twisting to examine the hole in his sleeve, just below his left shoulder.

"When did you get so tall?" Thalia asked suddenly, her gaze rising to a spot somewhere just above Percy's line of vision.

He grinned, realizing that she seemed shorter than he remembered her—however ridiculous that sounded. Even Annabeth was taller than her now. "We can't all be immortal maidens who never age," he replied wryly, though he noticed all the irritation had faded from his voice now that he was free of her arrow.

She cocked her head to the side, conceding the point. "So now that we're all separated from trees," she said as she handed Annabeth her knife, "how about we head to my camp and have a nice long chat? I've been dying for a few good stories."

-ψ-ψ-ψ-

As it turned out, Thalia had been traveling with seven other Hunters, all of whom were gathered in a small clearing not far from where Percy and the others had run into her. As per usual, they weren't exactly happy of the company and when Thalia requested that they stay a while longer and talk with the others, the remaining Hunters were sure to sit a short ways away from their lieutenant and her friends—though they made it a point to throw the occasional dirty look their way, and Percy tried not to notice that almost all of those looks were directed at him.

Thalia promised to tell them what she and the Hunters had been up to, but first she wanted to hear more about the Shadow War and the absence of the gods. As expected, they hadn't seen or heard from Artemis in over a month, and their ranks had grown worried for their leader's safety. So Annabeth, Percy, and Grover took it in turns explaining what they could about their journey the previous month—about the prophecy, Camp Jupiter's disappearance, Nico di Angelo's memory loss, and their discovery that Nyx, the primordial goddess of night, was behind it all. They told her how they'd located the missing city of New Rome and attempted to make a stand against Nyx during the lunar eclipse, and that it had all gone wrong. She had succeeded in raising her brother Erebos, the King of Darkness, from his prison and together they had blanketed the world in an eternal, starless night. And thus the Shadow War had begun.

Soon after that, Percy and the others had returned to Camp Half-Blood, taking all of New Rome's survivors with them, while all around them the world fell into disarray. Monster sightings were at an all-time high and chaos ran rampant in all major cities. The mortals, clueless and innocent as ever, were apparently attributing the constant darkness to strange weather patterns and global warming. Many places were in upheaval, even without the knowledge of what was really happening to the world. The Mist must have hidden the true threat from them, but what they saw when hellhounds and giants and dracaenae roamed the streets, Percy hadn't the slightest clue. Shops and restaurants had closed. Businesses were placed on hold. Homes were under lockdown. News stations did their best to remain open, unsurprisingly, but they were among the few. He didn't know what the majority of the people believed, but they obviously knew _something_ was very wrong.

Recruitment efforts at Camp Half-Blood were increased, with teams of satyrs and armed demigods tracking down any half-bloods—claimed or unclaimed—who hadn't already been brought in (which was what Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were doing now with Tyler and Lydia). The place had become something of a refugee camp, a crowded, chaotic safe home for those victims of the war that knew what was truly going on. But in addition to that, the camp was, under Chiron's supervision, made into a command central—a base of operations for what the campers had started to call "the Resistance". The Resistance was made up of mixed Greek and Roman demigods and legacies from Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter, retired legionnaires from New Rome, and new recruits who had yet to belong to any one place. Their primary focus was defending the camp and discovering a way to defeat Nyx and Erebos—though of course that was much easier said than done. Much of their time was spent on recovery missions, combat training, weapon building and maintenance, and security. The kids from the Hecate cabin had set to the task of strengthening and maintaining the border around the camp, but it wasn't infallible. The occasional threat always slipped through, and when it did they had to be ready to fight it.

More than once, the Resistance had tried to contact Thalia and the Hunters without luck. Iris-messaging was down due to their lack of contact with the gods (though now they knew the reason for that—a reason Percy was sure to repeat for Thalia and Grover), and none of them carried cell phones. According to her, they had split their numbers into eight-person groups and spread out, trying to find Artemis and figure out what had happened to the world. She and her team were just headed to Camp Half-Blood when they'd run into Percy, Annabeth, and Grover.

"So you'll come back with us, then?" Annabeth asked after hearing this news.

Thalia nodded, her expression grim after listening to her friends' story. "Two months ago, I'd have said it's more dangerous to travel in large groups. But let's face it, now it's dangerous no matter what we do. Might as well bulk up our ranks in case anything big comes along."

"We should get going, then," Grover suggested, shaking Tyler and Lydia's shoulders. They'd fallen asleep on either side of him as the others had talked. "The sooner we get to camp, the better."

As they all climbed to their feet, a sudden and threatening howl sounded from somewhere in the distance, back in the direction from which they'd come.

"Wh-What was that?" Lydia asked as she and her sister gasped and huddled close to each other.

A second and third howl answered, followed by a distant growl. Percy felt his heartbeat quicken as a cold feeling crept across his skin, raising the hairs on the back of his neck, and Annabeth turned to him and muttered, "You don't think it's another hellhound pack, do you?"

His eyes peered into the darkness between the trees outside their small campsite and he replied in a low voice, "Probably the same one." Annabeth bit her bottom lip but didn't argue the possibility. Since the start of the war, monsters of all kinds seemed to be having a particularly difficult time staying dead. It reminded him of early in the Giant War, when Gaea had taken Thanatos, the god of death, captive and forced him to do her bidding. With a jolt, he remembered his dream—his father telling him that the gods were all bound in an enchanted sleep—and it suddenly made sense. If Thanatos as well was asleep, it was no wonder the line between life and death had been so blurred. Unfortunately, that meant nothing good for them. He had a nasty feeling that if Erebos wanted someone or something to stay dead, it would. Thanatos was another of Nyx's children, after all.

"Either way," Annabeth said after a beat, "I don't want to stick around to greet them. We've got to get Tyler and Lydia back safely."

"I'm with you," Percy agreed. "I've been covered in enough monster dust for the day. I'll be washing it out of my hair for weeks."

"That's assuming you actually _wash_ your hair," Annabeth pointed out with a light smirk, poking him in the side of the head. He waved her hand away and shook his head with a wry grin, appreciating the attempt to lighten the mood.

As they all gathered their things and set off together through the forest, Percy couldn't help but think that eventually this darkness that had blanketed them would become so solid and complete that no amount of humor or hope would have a chance to lighten it. He shrugged the thought off, blaming the lingering remnants of his dream-visit from Erebos. But even behind that, he could feel a tiny shadow trying to form in his own mind, as if meeting the King of Darkness had opened a door inside him and what little light he had left was pouring out of it, slipping away like water through his fingers. And soon, he had a feeling that it would grow less and less easy for him to keep holding on.

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><p><strong>So there's a bit about what's been going on since the war started. Now you can sort of see the more serious tone this story is gonna take. I promise there'll still be funny and happy bits, though, so never fear, haha.<strong>

**New POV next chapter! It's another one I didn't get to do last book, so I'm kind of excited, haha. It's fun to expand and try some new people. We're back at Camp Half-Blood next chapter, too, for a good bit more backstory.**

**Reviews make my day, guys! No idea when I'll update next. I have the next few chapters done already, so next week definitely. It'll depend on my mood and how many reviews I get, heh heh :D**

**Later days!**

**-oMM**


	4. IV Piper

**Hi, gang! Thank you all of you who reviewed last chapter! Ready for another update? And another new POV? And some more background on the war and the state of things? How about what some other characters are up to? If you answered 'yes' to any of those questions, then congratulations! Read on for your prize!**

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><p><strong>IV<br>PIPER**

Jab low. Left sidestep. Turn. Swing high. Duck. Push forward. Spin. Swing low.

Piper loved combat training. The jarring _clang_ of metal against metal was strangely therapeutic. It monopolized her focus and blocked out everything else, all her other problems and worries and fears. All that mattered was the sword in her hand and her opponent's next move. There was no war, no darkness, no evil hovering over her and threatening to drag everything she held dear to a shadowy oblivion. There was only her—her focus and her breathing, her footwork and her agility. She didn't love fighting, exactly, but she loved being strong—capable of protecting the many things in her life that she had to protect. That was why she did it, why adrenaline swam through her veins whenever she blocked a strike and she felt a rush at the dull _thud_ that sounded whenever she landed a hit against armor.

Her dueling partner, however, didn't seem to share that sentiment.

"I yield!" he shouted, hopping on one leg after Piper's bronze sword collided with his left shin guard.

"Not yet, you don't," she argued, spinning around and whacking the flat of her blade against her opponent's side. He cried out and stumbled back.

He then made a wild swing toward her shoulders with his own sword, but she leaned back, avoiding the blow and ducking toward him. She turned sideways and jammed the hilt of her sword into his stomach. He gasped and fell backward onto the ground, turning and curling his body into a ball with a groan and another claim of "Yield, I yield…"

Piper gave an exasperated sigh and loosened her stance, letting her sword arm fall lax at her side. She reached up and pulled off her half helm, shaking her head so her messy hair fell down to her shoulders. "Mitchell," she said flatly, fixing her opponent with a pointed look, "we aren't gonna win this war by _yielding_. If you yield against Nyx or Erebos, you _die_."

"Maybe," Mitchell replied, pulling himself into a sitting position and removing his own helmet, "but I've got enough cuts and bruises to know that yielding against _you_ is still the better option."

Piper sighed again, though this time more submissively. "I'm sorry," she admitted, reaching down and pulling him to his feet. "I just… don't want you to get hurt. Any of you."

Her half-brother arched an eyebrow. "You've got a funny way of showing it," he said wryly, but when she frowned his expression seemed to soften. "Kidding," he explained. "I understand why you push us so hard. Really." With a slightly rueful smirk, he added, "I just wish for a little more padding sometimes, is all."

She smiled, glad he wasn't truly angry with her. She'd been the first of the Aphrodite kids to take up sword-fighting, but not long after that the rest of her cabin-mates had followed her lead. She was glad—they were in a war, after all. The last thing she wanted was for her friends to be thrown into the fray without any way to protect themselves. She'd never told them outright that she wanted them to learn to fight for their own protection, but by the look of things, she didn't need to.

"I can't go _too_ easy on you," she pointed out. "I don't want to lose my edge."

"Why didn't you just ask Jason to spar with you?" Mitchell suggested. "That guy looks like he can take a hit. And throw 'em back a lot better than me."

Piper pressed her lips together as she felt her muscles tighten, her limbs suddenly hard as lead. "He was busy," she said stiffly, trying to keep the twinge of tightness from her voice. Evidently, she'd failed, because the look on Mitchell's face flashed from confusion to a sort of embarrassed understanding.

"Oh," he said lamely, clearing his throat. "Well… I should probably go get cleaned up. Lots to do today, you know. Um… Thanks, Piper. For the help. And the bruises." He shot her a slightly awkward grin before turning and shuffling out of the arena, off to who-knows-where.

Piper looked after him for a long minute before her eyes slowly traveled up toward the huge, stadium lights set up around the arena, their brilliance temporarily blinding her. She hadn't wanted to scare him off, but he'd broached a subject she wasn't entirely keen on talking about, so perhaps it had been unavoidable. All of Piper's friends and general acquaintances knew that she and Jason had been spending less time together, but the number of people who truly knew _why_ was much less impressive. Many of them probably attributed it to the fact that things had been extremely busy since the start of the war, and to be honest, that may have been part of it. But the truth was that ever since the night of the lunar eclipse, Jason had been different.

There had been close to 150 casualties when New Rome had been sacrificed to raise Erebos from his prison. The loss had been worse than Piper could have imagined, and it had cut them all deeply. Spirits had been broken, morale shattered. Their sense of safety and security had crumbled, so many hopes buried in the sand with the city they'd come to know and rely on. The Greek demigods had welcomed the Romans, giving them a haven when they had nowhere else to turn to. It had been difficult—it still _was_ difficult—but Reyna and the other Twelfth Legion officers had worked with Chiron and the Greek leaders to unite their Resistance. It was a group effort, one that everyone had a role in. And while Jason had readily accepted whatever task he was needed for, his attitude and countenance had changed. Reyna had made every attempt to put aside her grief, but Jason seemed to let his consume him.

For whatever reason, it was obvious that he blamed himself for what had happened. Piper had tried to tell him that that was stupid, that he did everything he could and Nyx's power and planning had simply been too much for them. But he wouldn't listen. Some part of her thought it understood what he must have been thinking. He had grown up with these people, had risen through their ranks and become leader at a young age. Then before the Giant War, he'd been taken from them and forced to forget they even existed. But even when his memories had returned, still he hadn't gone back to Camp Jupiter for many more months—and when he did, it was with a host of Greek demigods. And he'd left them again that same day, gone off traveling while Reyna had led the rest of the Legion to war. After Gaea's defeat, they'd welcomed him back—even restored his position as praetor. Things had gone well for a while, until Nyx intervened and transported the entire city of New Rome to Death Valley, trapping them at the base of a sandy hill. With Reyna gone, it had fallen to Jason to protect the Legion—to save them. To figure out what had happened and stop it before it was too late.

And he'd failed.

To him, that must have been the final straw. Piper had told him not to feel so guilty, that everyone made mistakes and that everyone could be forgiven. But he'd only shook his head, telling her that he wasn't someone worthy of forgiveness. He didn't deserve it, and he didn't deserve her. That was over four weeks ago. And they hadn't spoken since.

With a sigh, Piper shook her head and ran a hand through her hair, her fingers catching in days of tangles and knots that she'd been too preoccupied to comb out. She didn't have time to think about Jason and his problems. In a war, there were always things to do. She'd been meaning to pay a visit to the infirmary, which seemed as good a plan as any. So after stowing her equipment in one of the sheds by the arena, she hurried back to her cabin to quickly change and wash some of the sweat from her face before setting off across the camp, taking in some of the sights as she walked and thinking back on how the place had changed in the last month.

A number of additional cabins had been hastily built to make room for the Romans and new recruits, and the existing campers had been shuffled around to free up more space. A lot of them were still staying in the cabin belonging to their godly parent, but that wasn't always the case. The Apollo and Demeter cabins had been emptied for new arrivals, their residents moved into various other places. Many of the Athena and Aphrodite kids had offered up their beds and chosen to move elsewhere as a courtesy. A large chunk of the Hephaestus cabin had moved into the forges or equipment labs—or Bunker 9, in a few cases—because of the amount of work they'd been charged with. Between forging new weapons and armor, building roofs to put over people's heads, and engineering the lighting equipment the camp utilized due to the constant darkness, they were always busy. Some of them, Piper knew, often went days without sleep, and the small amounts of sleep they _did_ get were often spent lying on the floor beside whatever project they'd been working on.

The new housing and lighting structures made the place crowded enough, and the increased number of people made it worse. It wasn't as though you couldn't walk through the camp without running into people, but before, it was possible to travel from one place to another without seeing anyone. Now, there wasn't a chance of that. No matter what time of day or night it was, there were always people about—training at the arena, working at the forges, milling about the cabins, meeting in a free corner, visiting the gigantic tent put up outside the Big House that served as their expanded infirmary. Sometimes there were good moods, oftentimes there weren't. Above the stadium lights, the dark, starless sky was always visible—a constant reminder of the war literally looming over their heads, of the danger they just couldn't completely escape.

Piper had made it halfway to her destination when something caught her eye—a recruitment party returning from a mission. Recognizing some of them at once, she diverted her course without a second thought, breaking into a jog as she headed up the hill.

As she reached a hand up and waived, she realized that party was larger than expected. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were there, predictably, as well as two young girls Piper didn't recognize whom she assumed must have been the new arrivals. Following them, however, was a group of eight Hunters of Artemis—including their lieutenant, Jason's sister Thalia. Seeing her inevitably brought Piper's thoughts veering back to Jason, but she tried her hardest to push them aside and give her friends a smile.

"Hey, guys," she said when she was within earshot. "Welcome back. Looks like your mission was more of a success than expected."

"You could say that," Percy said with a glance toward the Hunters. "How are things here?"

"No change," Piper reported. "We had a bit of a scare with the barrier a few hours ago, but nothing major. Everything's fine now." She nodded toward the two young girls, both of whom were surveying the camp with wide eyes. "These the newbies? Any ideas on parentage?"

"We've got a few guesses," Grover answered. "I'm gonna show 'em around, introduce 'em to a couple of the head counselors and see if anything clicks. Katie first?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Katie first," Annabeth agreed, and Grover took a hand of each of the two young girls, leading them past Piper and down the hill.

"Piper, right?" Thalia said with a glance at Piper, touching a finger to her chin. When Piper nodded, Thalia smiled and asked, "How's my brother?"

Again, Piper stiffened. She noticed both Percy and Annabeth quickly avert their gazes, suddenly looking uncomfortable, and she understood why—they were two of the few people who knew what was really going on between Piper and Jason. When the pause she took before answering was just a few seconds too long, Percy cut in lightly, "I'm sure he's off working on something in his cabin. I swear, that guy's always busy nowadays." Piper shot him a grateful look and he smiled.

"Guess I'll have to drop in on him later," Thalia decided, and if she'd sensed something awkward about the situation she didn't let it on.

"I'm gonna check in with Chiron," Percy said, shifting the pack on his back as his eyes suddenly grew serious. "Stuff to talk about. You coming?" he asked Annabeth.

"Actually," she replied, "I was thinking I'd go check in with Will. See how Rachel's doing."

"That's where I was headed," Piper remembered, shooting a glance toward the infirmary.

"Great," Annabeth said with a smile. "Then we'll go together."

"I'll come with you," Thalia suggested to Percy. "I should report to Chiron, too. It's been a while, after all." She turned to her fellow Hunters and nodded, and they started past her and down the hill. Piper ignored the displeased looks they gave her, probably sensing who she was—the Hunters of Artemis had never gotten along well with children of Aphrodite.

"Let me know if you learn anything new," Percy said to Annabeth and Piper, before he leaned over and gave his girlfriend a kiss on the cheek, his hand holding onto hers a few seconds. Then he grinned at Piper and lightly punched her shoulder before he and Thalia jogged away toward the Big House.

The brief show of affection pulled at something sharp in Piper's chest, as though a needle had been yanked quickly out of her heart. She tried to hide it, but she must not have done a very good job, because Annabeth smiled sympathetically and said, "Sorry."

"Don't be," Piper argued, shaking her head. "With everything that's going on, you guys deserve every happiness you've got. Don't let me ruin it by being stupid."

"You're _not_ stupid," Annabeth said firmly. "You're just… going through a rough time. Don't worry, okay? …He'll come around." She reached out and gripped Piper's hand, offering a friendly smile that Piper couldn't help returning.

"I hope so," she agreed, before leading the way down the hill away from the camp border.

They reached their destination a few short minutes later. As they pushed aside the hanging canvas over the entrance and stepped inside, Piper quickly realized that they weren't the only visitors. The infirmary tent was large enough to comfortably house dozens of patients, more if comfort was overlooked. They'd had no casualties since the start of the war, but quite a few injuries—with fighting happening every week, it was unfortunately unavoidable. A few members of the Apollo cabin were overseeing the healing, monitoring their stocks of ambrosia and nectar and only using them for injuries that couldn't be treated with mortal or magical methods.

Annabeth and Piper strode down the center aisle toward the bed against the farthest back-left corner. In it lay the first person who'd been settled in the new infirmary—their Oracle host, Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She was sleeping soundly and stilly, but beneath her lids her eyes shifted back and forth, her brow just barely creased as though she were dreaming. Her breathing was slow and even, her skin unnaturally pale. She looked the same as she had for weeks.

On the chair beside Rachel's bed sat a thin, red-plumed harpy. She was perched with her feet pulled up on the very edge of the chair, leaning forward as though preparing to dive. Her brown eyes were fixed on Rachel, her head tilting slowly back and forth as though seeing her from a different angle might make her suddenly look better.

"Hi, Ella," Annabeth greeted the harpy. "Any change?"

Ella shook her head, not looking at Annabeth. "No change," she said quietly. "Change. Change is good. 'Be the change that you wish to see.' Mahatma Gandhi, 1869 to 1948. Change. No change."

"Hey, guys," a voice said suddenly, and Piper and Annabeth both turned to see the head counselor of the Apollo cabin, Will Solace, approaching them. Piper was struck by how worn out he looked. His limbs sagged at his sides and his face was a loose mask of no expression, his blue eyes dark and bloodshot. His blond hair fell dirty and unkempt to his ears, and his clothes were wrinkled. She resisted the urge to tell him how awful he looked, knowing that he'd been working tirelessly in the war effort. It felt like an insult to ask him to take it easy.

"Hey, Will," Piper responded with a smile. "How's Rachel?"

Will shook his head with a heavy sigh. "Not good," he said, and Piper was slightly impressed that even though he looked so tired, his voice was as sure and strong as ever. "She's breathing okay, but she hasn't woken up and her pulse is still weak. We've switched to feeding her intravenously to get her the proper nutrients, but it's like she just can't get her strength back. The most that's happened is occasionally she'll mutter something in her sleep—snippets of prophecy, I think. It's rough to make out, and doesn't make much sense. Some of it we've heard before." He placed one hand on his hip and ran the other through his hair, frowning down at Rachel. "I've tried everything. Ambrosia and nectar have no effect, even healing hymns. I just wish there was more I could do."

Piper didn't respond. She knew he was already doing everything he could, and saying it aloud seemed unnecessary. Instead, she followed his gaze toward Rachel. So far, no one was absolutely sure exactly what it was that was ailing the Oracle. She had just suddenly collapsed at the start of the war, on the same night that Erebos had risen and the sky had darkened. Will was in charge of overseeing her condition, and according to him, it was as though something had swooped in and suddenly sapped all of her strength, like her life force was being pulled away and she was barely hanging onto it. Annabeth had a theory—that the darkness was somehow clouding the Oracle's sight, and that that in turn affected Rachel's body. The Oracle of Delphi had bound itself to her will, to her spirit. If it was weakened by the blanket of darkness surrounding them, then it would follow that Rachel would be weakened as well. This unfortunately would mean that the only way to save her would be to defeat Erebos and bring light back to the world.

Her heart growing heavy like it had been wrapped in drying cement, Piper twisted around to observe the remainder of the tent. About half the beds were occupied with patients, injuries varying from sprained ankles to a number of bloody lacerations to grade-three concussions. One guy from the Athena cabin had had his left hand sliced off at the wrist, and a Roman legionnaire from the Third Cohort had been placed in long-term care after an incident that had resulted in third-degree burns covering the entire right half of his body. Greek and Roman medics were milling about with clipboards and stethoscopes, checking on patients every few minutes.

It struck Piper as odd how quickly they had settled into the life of a wartime refugee camp—odd, and also sad. On the one hand, it was great that everyone was willing to do their part and help out. On the other, though, she would have given anything for them not to be forced to make the choice at all.

A flicker of movement caught her eye as the canvas flap at the other end of the tent was pulled aside and Connor Stoll, one of the two co-head counselors for the Hermes cabin, stepped inside. Piper assumed he was there to visit someone injured and her gaze had already begun to slide away from him when he suddenly caught her eye and started toward her. She frowned at his quickened pace, wondering what was going on.

"You guys," he said as he approached the back of the tent, his eyes shifting between Piper, Annabeth, and Will. "Chiron's called a council meeting." Piper's eyebrows shot up as Connor grinned and added, "Word is there's some news that could get us back in touch with the gods."

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><p><strong>But we already know that news, don't we? All that's left is to decide what to do with it, heh heh.<strong>

**Shoot me a review on your way out! I'll probably update this on Friday, so keep an eye out. The next chapter gives us a major plot introduction. Later days!**

**-oMM**


	5. V Piper

**Happy Friday, gang! And Happy Valentine's Day! Consider this chapter my Valentine gift to you ;) I don't think I have any pre-chapter notes. Things are moving along nice and smoothly. Thanks to all of you who reviewed last chapter! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>V<br>PIPER**

The Big House rec room was another one of the many things that had changed over the past month since the darkness had settled in. Before, they used to gather around the ping-pong table for council meetings. Piper had always found it just a little strange, circling the short, rectangular gaming table to discuss things as serious as prophecies and quests. But despite that, it had become one of the many Camp Half-Blood constants that she'd come to rely on. The table, for her, signified their ability to work together and plan, to figure out a problem and a way to solve it.

But now, the increased size of their meetings meant that they could no longer use the table unless they all wanted to sit around on each other's laps—and while the Romans and Greeks were getting along just fine, she couldn't see that happening anytime in the near future. They still held their meetings in the rec room, but it wasn't quite the same. The ping-pong table had been folded up and leaned against the left wall, out of the way. An array of chairs and sofas of all levels of comfort had been brought in and placed around in no particular pattern, leaving a wide, open space in the middle of the room. It was more of a sitting room now, but as Piper, Annabeth, Will, and Connor walked in that morning, the grim atmosphere reminded her more of a funeral than a comfortable living area.

Looking around, Piper noticed that almost everyone was already present and accounted for. Chiron the centaur was in his magic wheelchair, sitting quietly near the left wall with his hands folded and his eyes closed. Percy stood near him, leaning backward against the back wall with his arms folded and a frown on his face. Thalia was sitting on the arm of the largest sofa. Beside her on the cushion was Katie Gardner, head counselor of the Demeter cabin, who was sitting noticeably close to Travis Stoll, a hand intertwined with one of his. From what Piper had heard, the two of them had always appeared to hate each other—until about six months ago when they'd suddenly started dating. The only one who hadn't been surprised was Travis's brother, Connor.

Farther down on the other end of the sofa, the Hypnos head counselor, Clovis, was dozing with his head leaning over the back cushion. Nico di Angelo had claimed the wooden chair beside him and flipped it around, sitting on it backwards with his arms draped across the backrest. Across from him against the front wall sat Clarisse La Rue of the Ares cabin, who had commandeered two chairs—one for her and one for her feet. Looking around, Piper didn't see Butch of the Iris cabin, whom she knew to be in the infirmary with a broken leg, or Pollux from Dionysus and Lou Ellen from Hecate, though she didn't know where the two of them were. Maybe on a recruitment mission.

Reyna and Jason were present as well, both of them seated on metal chairs. Reyna looked just as serious and unemotional as ever, more in-control than most of the rest of the Resistance put together. Piper forced herself not to give Jason more than a quick, sweeping glance as she surveyed the room—just enough to take in his haggard appearance and tired, bloodshot eyes. She wanted to walk over and sit beside him, but when she thought of how stubborn and self-pitying he'd been acting lately, the flash of desire faded into an empty feeling of loss, and she averted her attention.

The ten centurions of the Roman Twelfth Legion Fulminata were scattered around the room, though most of them Piper didn't know by name. The skinny, blond augur, Octavian, was standing stiffly beside Reyna's chair, the corners of his mouth turned down in a frown so deep it was almost comical. The only other centurions Piper could name were of course Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque, who were seated on a small sofa together with their heads tilted toward each other in quiet conversation. They looked up as Piper and the others entered the room and smiled, though Piper noticed that Hazel's expression seemed a bit nervous. She understood why. Her predecessor, Dakota, had been one of the only two Roman centurions killed last month when Nyx had sacrificed New Rome in Death Valley, the other being a girl named Melina from the First Cohort. Afterward, Hazel had been hastily appointed in his place, but she had yet to fully settle into the role. Piper knew it had a lot to do with the fact that Dakota had been a friend of hers ever since she'd first joined the Legion, and taking his place as Fifth Cohort centurion would be a grim confirmation that he wasn't coming back.

As Annabeth moved to stand next to Percy and Connor seated himself on the big sofa between Travis and Clovis, Piper scanned the room one last time and started toward the cushy, moth-eaten armchair just to her right. She sat down on the edge of the chair's arm, leaning over her best friend where he sat on the cushion, legs crossed Indian-style and hands fussing over a small metal contraption in his lap.

"What's that?" she asked, cocking her head to the side to get a better look. It didn't help; the object still just looked like a hunk of machinery to her.

"Power converter," Leo Valdez answered without looking up. "Well, the core of one, anyway. You know how the lights over the mess hall went out yesterday? Turns out the whole line was fried from outside the camp—some kind of sabotage maybe, I don't know. Trouble is, we can't stick 'em on another line running close by or it'll overload. I figure the hall is close enough to the Sound we can run hydraulic power, but none of the converters we have are up to snuff. So me and Nyssa have been collecting them and assessing the damage. Think if we can, we wanna get _all_ the power run this way to avoid this problem in the future."

"Oh," Piper said lamely, not really following but still wanting to be supportive. "That's… smart of you."

Leo finally looked up at her, shaking his head with an amused grin. "Don't worry about it, Beauty Queen," he said, and though he wasn't laughing she was sure she could hear laughter in his voice. "If I'd expected you to get it, I would've brought you in on the project."

Piper smirked and smacked the back of his head just as Chiron's voice rose above the quiet chatter, and Leo stuffed the mechanical contraption in his tool belt. "Will, can you close the door please? Yes, thank you. Alright. Now that everyone's here, we can begin."

"So what's this fantastic plan that's gonna solve all our problems?" Clarisse asked with a not-so-subtle hint of sarcasm. Chiron turned and nodded to Percy, who stepped away from the wall. He'd barely opened his mouth to speak, however, when Clarisse rolled her eyes heavily and spoke over him, "Oh, great. Should've known this'd be another one of Jackson's brilliant ideas."

Anger sparked in Percy's eyes. "Actually," he said in a voice of forced calm, "it _wasn't _my idea. It was my father's."

Piper felt her eyes widen. Clarisse, too, apparently had nothing to say to this, and only stared at Percy with her eyebrows raised. For over a month, they had tried to contact the gods with no success whatsoever. They had begun to think that their immortal relatives had all but abandoned them, letting Erebos take over and cover everything in shadow. If Percy had indeed heard from Poseidon, then maybe hope wasn't quite as lost as they'd feared.

"He contacted me in a dream last night," Percy went on with a glance at Annabeth. She nodded, and he explained how Poseidon had entered his dream and told him that the reason the gods had been so distant was because Erebos had trapped them on Mount Olympus in a magic slumber fashioned by the god of sleep, Hypnos, whom Nyx evidently had taken prisoner.

"So the gods want us to find Hypnos and set him free," Reyna guessed, earning an affirmative nod from Percy. Clovis snored a bit at the mention of his father's name, but otherwise didn't budge. "I don't suppose we've got any clues on where to look."

"I may be able to help with that," Thalia spoke up. "The Hunters and I have been doing some traveling, looking into the state of the world since this war started. There are two places that the darkness seems to culminate, like the shadows are thicker, more packed together. The first is here in New York, the second is Death Valley."

"That's where Nyx raised Erebos last month," Hazel pointed out. "On the night of the eclipse."

"My guess," Thalia continued, "is that she's still there. Probably with Hypnos."

There was a murmur of general assent and interest. A Roman Piper didn't know sat forward and said, "It makes sense."

"So wait," Travis said with a frown. "Does that mean since the other super-dark place is here, that's where Erebos is? If that's the case, why haven't we seen him? Why hasn't he made a move on us?"

"Perhaps he's biding his time," Reyna suggested, touching a finger to her chin in thought. "I hate to say it, but it isn't like we're getting any stronger or any more ready. What has he got to lose by waiting, really?"

"It could be good for us." Will this time. "Think about it. If he's just hanging out, that gives us time to track down Hypnos, right? So let's take advantage of it. Especially if we've got a good idea where he is."

"That's all well and good," Octavian put in, sounding irritable—though, as Piper had realized during their brief stay in Death Valley, he was hardly ever _not_ irritable. "But if Erebos is here, then we can probably assume he's watching us. Don't you think he'll notice if we suddenly set off on a cross-country road trip?"

Chiron spoke next, his expression a thoughtful frown. "I suggest we send only a traditional team of three people," he said, sounding weary. "It may be risky, but also more likely to avoid detection. There's also the question of how to get there."

"There's always shadow-travel," Nico suggested. "Fast and hard to track."

Annabeth took a step forward and shook her head. "You can't shadow-travel all the way to California, it'll kill you," she said seriously. "And even if you could, there's no way you could take anyone with you."

"I think you underestimate me," Nico replied, raising an eyebrow.

Before Annabeth could argue, Leo interrupted, "Uh, guys, aren't we forgetting something? You know, a certain ten-ton mechanical dragon that's been dying to spread its wings?" He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows and everyone else exchanged looks, muttering about the validity of the suggestion. After all, Leo had finished repairing Festus to full working order two weeks after the start of the war. He hadn't been on any long-distance flight-tests, as they only left the camp on important business anymore, but the dragon had done laps around the inside of the border and was apparently working better than ever. That it could make a trip to California and (hopefully) back wasn't a far-fetched idea at all.

"We don't exactly have time to kill, here," Octavian said dryly. "I'm sure that thing would take weeks to make such a flight." Leo arched an eyebrow and Piper saw his jaw tighten. She tensed, ready to grab him if she needed to. Insulting Leo's handiwork was _not_ something you wanted to do.

But instead, his expression returned to his usual cocky grin and he said lightly to the room at large, "Festus's average flight speed tops out at about a hundred fifty knots. If all goes well, we can make the trip in… about fourteen hours." It might have been Piper's imagination, but she could have sworn Leo looked directly at Octavian at those last two words.

And then something else he said struck her. "We?" she repeated, a hand going to his shoulder and pulling him back to look at her.

Leo shrugged. "Where Festus goes, I go," he said shortly. "No one else knows how to run him." She was about to remind him just how dangerous this mission was and that it shouldn't be taken so lightly, but then she noticed the seriousness in his eyes and she kept her mouth shut. He understood what he was getting into.

"It seems we have our first volunteer," Chiron said with a nod toward Leo. "Anyone else? I urge you to please consider how difficult and dangerous the journey will be."

"I'm in," Nico said at once. "This is a stealth mission, right? As I'm sure most of you have noticed, I have a habit of blending in with the darkness." A few people snickered in agreement, but Nico didn't seem bothered. "Plus you're gonna need me if we run into the Furies."

Chiron nodded, though Piper noticed the look in his eyes growing grimmer by the second. "Yes, good. One more should suffice."

Piper wasn't sure if she wanted to volunteer. On the one hand, she was worried about Leo and the trip would help distract her from Jason. But on the other, if she left now, she may never have the chance to make up with him. She shot a glance his way and was surprised to see him watching her with an expression of worry—maybe even fear. As soon as their eyes met, he lowered his gaze, but not fast enough that she didn't notice.

Around the room, people were exchanging apprehensive glances, and she knew they were all doing like she was—weighing the pros and cons. Percy looked about to speak, but Annabeth gripped his arm and shook her head. For whatever reason, she didn't want him going along. And surprisingly, he fell silent at her look.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, someone finally spoke up, "I'll go." Piper looked around and was surprised to see Reyna on her feet, arms crossed in front of her. Leo's gaze snapped onto her immediately, his eyes widening just barely and his eyebrows drawing together. Reyna's eyes flitted toward him for the briefest of moments before she pressed her lips together and looked away, raising her chin a fraction of an inch. Piper wondered briefly what that was about as Reyna went on, "As this mission affects us all, I think it would be wise to have at least one Greek and one Roman along."

"Very well," Chiron agreed, clasping his hands together. "Now, you three. I'm sure it's safe to expect that Nyx and Erebos will have spies set in place in case we wander too far from home. And If Hypnos really is in Death Valley, I'm certain he'll be well-guarded. Likely even by Nyx herself. If things get too difficult, do _not_ continue. Return and regroup. We've done well keeping everyone alive so far. The last thing I want is for us to break that streak now."

"Hey, don't worry," Leo said confidently, looking at Nico and Reyna. His gaze lingered on the latter for just a second longer before he glanced back at Chiron and grinned. "Team like this, Nyx won't know what hit her."

A few people exchanged tentative smiles, Piper included, and she knew that for once, everyone in the room was thinking the same thing. This plan gave them hope—a chance to free the gods and finally get their help in stopping Erebos. But behind the relief and confidence, a dark, unspoken question lingered, thickening the air so that Piper felt like she was trying to breathe through a pool of tar.

If so many of them had been unable to stop Nyx on the night of the eclipse, how could only three hope to stand against her long enough to free her immortal son?

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><p><strong>Woo! A quest! So now you see how the plot splits very soon. In a bit, we're gonna have a few different conflicts going on at once. It's gonna be fun, just wait :D haha. I'll probably update on Tuesday, so watch for it.<strong>

**I'll take reviews instead of Valentines! Hahaha :D Love you all! See you early next week!**

**Later days!**

**-oMM**


	6. VI Piper

**Hey gang :D Kind of a short update today. Thanks to everybody for reading, and all of you who reviewed! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>VI<br>PIPER**

The council meeting ended quickly after that and everyone began filing out, a buzz floating in the air made up of mixed excitement and worry. As she allowed herself to be swept up in the crowd, Piper couldn't deny that Percy's contact with Poseidon was good news—really good news. It meant that the gods wanted to help them. The bad news, of course, was that even though they wanted to, they couldn't. At least, not until three of their campers went on a deadly quest to free the god of sleep from the clutches of his crazy mother, the Queen of Night.

A chill brushing across her skin, Piper broke away from everyone else once she'd exited the Big House. She trudged across the wraparound porch and leaned against the railing, looking out over the strawberry fields. Tall, bright, stadium lights were set up around them, just like other major areas of the camp, and she could just barely make out the forms of a handful of people milling about, checking on the crop. It wasn't as though they needed the strawberries at the moment, what with everything going on, but Piper suspected that some of the campers kept up with their maintenance almost as a sort of distraction, something to keep them occupied so they weren't focusing only on the war. A small, almost sad smile touched her lips as she watched them work, longing for the days when she could look out over the fields by the light of the sun.

"What'cha looking at?" a voice interrupted her thoughts, and she turned her head as Leo leaned his back against the railing beside her.

"Just… remembering."

He shot a glance over his shoulder, eyes going to the sky. "The sun would be up right now," he said as though reading her mind. "This whole 'constant night' thing is really disorienting. It's what, nine A.M.? Feels more like nine P.M."

Piper chuckled. "Yeah," she agreed. "Keeping my sleep schedule has been a major challenge." Leo snorted in amusement, and it struck her that he of all people wasn't one to complain to about sleep schedules. Between fixing Festus and zipping back and forth between the various jobs his cabin was conducting, he'd rapidly become one of the busiest people at camp. He didn't let it on, but she knew he'd developed a habit of going days without sleep. Lately he'd still had all the energy of a normal person—which, to those that knew him well, was evidence enough that something was off. Leo's typical energy level was way above 'normal'.

"So… You're leaving tonight," she said, changing the subject as a gnawing worry started to once again chew at her insides and crease her brow into a permanent frown.

"Yeah. After dinner." He was looking straight ahead, staring at the outside front wall of the Big House behind her, and she couldn't read the look on his face.

Piper twisted around so she was leaning on her side, facing Leo. "You'd better be careful," she said firmly, allowing her voice to be powered by just a hint of charmspeak. "You're my best friend. I don't want to lose you to this war."

He turned toward her and smiled—not his joker-like grin, but a real smile, and it actually made her feel better. "You won't," he promised. "I don't want to lose me to this war, either. Frankly, I'd hate to imagine the state of the world without me in it."

Piper had to smile. Leo had a natural way of lightening any situation that made her beyond glad they were friends. "So would I," she said sarcastically. "Still. I know how much you've pushed yourself lately. I guess what I mean is… Just don't be a hero, okay?"

Leo raised his eyebrows skeptically. "Me, a hero?" he scoffed. "I think you're confusing me with your boyfriend, Thor." Piper glanced at the floor, wanting to appreciate the joke but suddenly feeling deflated and empty like a popped balloon. When Leo spoke again his voice was quieter, more serious. "He misses you, you know."

She looked up, wondering briefly if he was joking. But that was stupid. She could tell from his tone that he was being honest. "I miss him, too," she admitted. "But I just… Every time I see him it makes me mad. I hate how much he hates himself. And that he won't let me in anymore. I just feel like I can't reach him, like he's buried himself so deep that soon he's gonna suffocate and I won't be able to save him."

"Maybe saving isn't what he needs," Leo suggested with a shrug.

Piper frowned. "Then what _does_ he need?"

He arched an eyebrow in apprehension. "You're asking me?" he said dryly. Piper smacked his arm and shot him a _'Not helping!'_ look, and he laughed. "Look, I don't exactly claim to be the Love Guru—"

"Really?" Piper asked in mock skepticism, eyebrows shooting up. "Since when?"

Leo gave a wry grin and went on, "I'm just saying you should probably… you know, try to work things out. You don't know how much time you have left, is all."

She hated to admit it, but he had a point. With the war going on, she had to decide sooner rather than later what it was she wanted to do. There was plenty to keep her busy, but she didn't exactly have the luxury of putting things off anymore.

"You're right," Piper admitted with a heavy sigh. "You _know_ you're right. I'll try." She smiled and bumped her shoulder against his, her way of saying 'thank you'. When he grinned in response, she knew he got the message. "Speaking of working things out," she went on, her train of thought shifting gears, "is something wrong between you and Reyna? You guys don't really spend much time in the same room, but I swear she was acting funny toward you at the meeting. And you were acting funny right back."

"Was I?" Leo asked with a frown. "Beats me. If she's bugged at me about something, I don't know what it is. Like you said, we don't exactly talk." He shrugged off-handedly, but something still told Piper she wasn't getting the whole story.

"So… you guys going on a quest together isn't gonna be a problem," she said with a hint of skepticism.

"Shouldn't be," he replied, and his voice and expression were so normal that Piper decided she must have imagined any weirdness after all. Maybe Reyna just had a lingering irritation toward Leo for his accidental bombing of New Rome a year ago. Even if that were true, Piper trusted Reyna and knew that she wasn't the type to let personal feelings of anger interfere with an important job, so she supposed there was nothing to worry about.

Finally, Piper nodded. "Sorry. Guess I was just thinking too much."

Leo shook his head, brushing off the issue. "I should probably go give Festus a last-minute inspection," he said, stepping away from the railing and stretching his arms.

"Good call. Wouldn't want him falling out of the sky over Colorado, now, would we?"

"You say that like it's a possibility."

Piper laughed. "Go on. I'll be there later to see you off." Leo grinned and bowed, before vaulting over the railing and setting off at a jog toward the forest.

As she watched him disappear into the blotchy shadows between the lights over the forge and the arena, his voice echoed in her head: _You don't know how much time you have left, is all._ A heavy grip pulled at something in Piper's chest as the weight of this statement settled over her like a blanket. It was the hard truth: not one of them really knew how much time they had left in the world to fix what they needed to fix or say what they needed to say. The Shadow War was like a cryptic death sentence without a specific time or place, just a constant threat whispering in your ear that each day might be your last. It was a scary thought, and Piper wanted nothing more than to just push it away and pretend it wasn't real.

But try as hard as she might to forget, the inky black sky was all the reminder she needed, pulled over their heads like a hood on their way to an execution.

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><p><strong>Ominous, huh? I guess darkness will do that. Anyway, another new POV narrator next chapter! Should be up on Friday. Leave me a review in the meantime?<strong>

**Later days!**

**-oMM**


	7. VII Leo

**Hey, everybody :) Happy Friday!**

**I keep meaning to mention this again, and so far it's continued to slip my mind. But just a reminder that all the events in House of Hades did NOT happen in this story. They interfere with my timeline and all that.**

**That being said, welcome narrator 3 of 4 - the only repeat character from the first in this series! Thanks everybody who reviewed last chapter!**

**A little note, I did say this was gonna be darker than Blood and Sand. Here's a more serious taste of what I meant.**

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><p><strong>VII<br>LEO**

_Liar._

The word swam laps back and forth across Leo's brain, slamming against the inside of his skull like a metal hammer. He was quickly learning that every secret and every lie was like a thousand-pound weight, tied to his arms or his legs or his neck and weighing him down so heavily that he felt like he was trying to run through a river of molasses. When had that happened? When had he become this person who hid things from his friends only to be strangled by guilt and hurt when he was left alone?

Oh, yeah. He'd always been that way.

Leo was barely ten yards into the woods when he slowed to a halt and leaned his back against the trunk of a tree. He'd told Piper he was going to Bunker 9 to make sure Festus was ready for a cross-country journey. But he had no intention of actually doing that. He knew the dragon was in top form. Another lie to add to the list.

Because of the density of the trees, they'd decided not to waste electricity lighting the forest and instead left it dark and shadowy, the biggest reminder inside the camp's borders of the endless night going on outside. Leo didn't know why he'd stopped there. Nowadays, he hated the forest because he hated the dark. It had a nasty habit of bringing back flashing visions of the nightmares he'd been having, the ones that had kept him from a good night's sleep for weeks.

Well, night_mare_. It was always the same one—the same dream he'd had the night before the lunar eclipse. The dream about Nyx and her deadly black fire.

Every time darkness settled in, it was all he could see. Distinguishing between the world covered in shadows and the world burning in dark flame was becoming more and more difficult, and Leo was starting to worry that soon it would drive him insane. No one knew about it; he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud, part of him struck with the reluctant feeling that talking about it would make it more real. Demigod dreams were powerful, important things—hardly ever put there by chance. Sometimes they were visions, sometimes warnings, and sometimes symbols meant to teach something. And the fact that he was continually plagued by the same nightmare could _not_ have been a good sign.

The only one he'd ever told was Reyna, the night of the very first dream. But seeing as the two of them had hardly spoken at all since then, she didn't know that the nightmare hadn't gone away. More than once he thought of telling her, but the desire always fell short when her name crossed his mind, suddenly buried by the second-most-stressful secret he was stuck with.

He'd told Piper that there was nothing off between him and Reyna. But that couldn't have been farther from the truth. During the journey they'd been on last month, he felt like he'd started to understand her—want to be friends with her, even. And when they'd kissed the night before the eclipse, he thought he'd felt something, some spark of interest that hadn't been there before. But now, he wasn't so sure. Things had changed after that, but not in the way you'd expect.

Reyna didn't act as though it hadn't happened. In a way, it might have been easier if she did—at least then, he'd take the hint that the whole thing was a mistake. Instead, she became more distant that before, like she was trying specifically not to see, talk to, or even think about him. And Leo didn't get why. It wasn't like he was chasing after her, following her around like some lovesick puppy. He'd tried talking to her _once_, two days after the eclipse. But she'd been adamant about not answering, so he'd given up and hadn't approached her since. But still, every time they made eye contact he just couldn't figure out what she was thinking. Sometimes her eyes looked angry or frustrated, like she couldn't believe he had the nerve to be anywhere near her. But other times, he could swear she looked sad—confused, even. The constant headache pounding inside his skull from futile attempts to understand was starting to make him want to just forget the whole thing. There was no way it was worth so much pain and confusion.

Frustrated, Leo squeezed his eyes shut and pressed the heels of his hands against them, groaning at the dull throb in his head. A second later, a flash of biting, black fire swarmed across his eyelids. His eyes burned behind them and he bit his tongue to keep from screaming, suddenly afraid his eyeballs would be melted from their sockets. He tore his eyes open and the images faded, leaving his vision dim and his throat dry. Turning around, he pressed his forehead hard against the trunk of the tree, allowing the twinge of physical pain to clear his head. He lifted his hand and stared at his palm, trying not to imagine it cloaked in deadly, black flames. Taking a deep breath, he willed a small tongue of his own crimson and orange fire to flicker to life in his hand, but the sight of it dancing and twisting drove a horrible feeling of nausea into his gut. Feeling bile rise in his throat, he quickly clenched his hand into a fist, extinguishing the flame, and drove it into the tree trunk with a raspy, frustrated yell.

_Get it together!_ he scolded himself angrily. _What good are you if you're too freakin' chicken to use fire? _The quest he'd just volunteered for was extremely crucial, which meant that there was no room for screw-ups. They never would have let him sign on if they'd known his nightmares had started to render him useless in a fight. But that was why he'd wanted to go. Roaming the camp, keeping himself busy with task after task, was driving him mad—he _had_ to get out and _do_ something. It was the only way he could think of to stamp out what was bothering him once and for all.

The only problem with that plan was Reyna. He'd wanted to take the quest to get away and clear his head, focus on an important task in the hopes that it would block out everything else. But how was that possible if Reyna was right beside him every step of the way?

Which brought up another question—she'd been avoiding him for so long, so why had she volunteered in the first place? With just her, Leo, and Nico on this trip, conversation and collaboration would be unavoidable. Had she finally decided they needed to spend some time together, or was she really only thinking about the mission?

Well, there was only one way to find out. He had to find her and ask her—_before_ they set off.

Taking a deep breath to calm his still-agitated nerves, Leo pushed away from the tree and shook a few pieces of loose bark from his hair. He started off at a slow pace back toward the edge of the forest, using the time to loosen his tired limbs and expression and regain his usual laid-back attitude. He pushed all thoughts of the dream into the back corner of his mind and threw a mental wall in front of them, blocking them from his focus. He knew that as soon as he was back around other people, it would be easier not to think about all the stress he was under. But either way, he couldn't be too careful.

As he headed toward the cabins, Leo ran into Hazel and Frank, who looked to be on their way to the mess hall for a late breakfast. Or an early lunch.

"Yo, guys," he greeted them with a grin and a wave, jogging up and falling into step beside Hazel. "You seen Reyna anywhere?" A tiny blush suddenly crept up Hazel's face and Leo fought the urge to kick himself. The only ones who knew that something was going on between him and the Roman praetor were Annabeth and Hazel, and so far he'd done a good job of avoiding the subject around both of them. He could have asked _anyone_ for information on Reyna's whereabouts. And here he was, talking to one of the only two people who knew what was really going on.

Thankfully, though, Hazel followed his lead and didn't say anything, the flush on her skin fading almost as quickly as it had appeared. Some of the tension in Leo's muscles thinned when he realized he'd managed to dodge that bullet.

"I think she was heading toward the armory after the meeting," Frank said with a thoughtful frown, as if remembering used a major chunk of his brain power. "Why?"

"Just need to go over some stuff for the mission," Leo responded with a half-shrug.

At this, Hazel and Frank exchanged an uneasy glance. When they stopped walking and Hazel lightly gripped Leo's arm, there was worry in her eyes. "About that," she said a bit haltingly. "Can I… ask you a favor?"

A little alarmed at her sudden seriousness, Leo said carefully, "What favor?"

Hazel bit her bottom lip, her eyes shifting back and forth as though she were trying to make a decision. Leo swallowed hard, hoping this wouldn't have anything to do with Reyna. Finally, Hazel looked up at Leo and said shortly, "Look after my brother. Please."

"Nico?" Leo raised his eyebrows. "I'm pretty sure that guy's more than capable of taking care of himself."

"I know, I just mean that…" She seemed to be searching for the right words, unable to convey what it was she wanted. "He's reckless. He doesn't think things through. _You_ think things through. …Do that for him? Please? I thought I lost him last month. I can't do it again. I don't want to."

Struck by the obvious sincerity in her face and voice, Leo smiled. "Stop worrying, okay?" he said, putting as much confidence as he could into the words. "Everything's gonna be fine. I'll make sure of it. I promise."

A tentative smile on her face, Hazel responded, "Thanks, Leo. Really." She reached forward and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. As he returned the embrace, she added firmly, "You be careful, too, okay?"

"You got it." When they separated, Leo noticed that Frank had stiffened just noticeably. But when Hazel stepped back and took his hand, he seemed to relax and gave Leo a smile and a nod to share his girlfriend's sentiment.

"If we don't see you later," Frank said, "good luck. I've got a feeling you're gonna need it."

"A little luck sure wouldn't hurt," Leo agreed. Walking backward away from them, he added, "Thanks for the help, guys. I'm gonna go find Reyna." Exchanging a final wave, he spun around and set off for the armory.

Part of him hoped Reyna had gone somewhere else—talking to her while surrounded by weapons she could potentially use to behead him wasn't exactly high on his safety list. But sure enough, he found her in one of the weapon storehouses. She was alone, which he couldn't decide whether or not was a good thing. On the one hand, no chance of eavesdroppers meant that she was more likely to talk to him. On the other, there would be no witnesses.

"Hey," he greeted her airily, stepping inside the storehouse and leaning against the wall beside the doorway.

Reyna tensed, freezing in her action of replacing a sword in its spot on the wall. Her back was to him, and she turned her head to the side and said shortly, "Hi." She'd foregone her purple cloak and her armor, and was dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a white T-shirt, her long, black hair braided over her shoulder. She looked so vulnerable, but at the same time just as strong as she always did. It struck Leo as odd, for some reason. Maybe it was her stance, the way she stood tall and proud like an immovable mountain.

"Look, I'm just gonna come right out and ask." It was weird, talking to her after barely exchanging any words during weeks of living at the same camp. Flashes of the night he'd told her about his dream passed through his mind, but he pushed them back and went on, "Why'd you volunteer? For the quest."

She twisted to the side and turned to face the wall, revealing a single candle behind her that she must've brought to provide light. Leo's eyes darted toward the flame and a cold chill danced down his spine, but he bit his tongue and told himself to calm down. He was _not_ afraid of fire. No way.

"I told you at the meeting," Reyna finally replied, her voice stiff and all business. "This mission is important to all of us. I think it would be a detriment not to have a Roman along."

"But it could've been any Roman," Leo persisted levelly.

Reyna cleared her throat, eyes scanning a row of Celestial bronze hunting knives. "I would never ask a member of the Legion to take on a task I wasn't fully prepared to complete myself."

Feeling his eyes narrow unconsciously, he shot a glance over his shoulder to make sure no one was approaching the storehouse before taking a few steps farther into the room. "Is that the… only reason?" he asked carefully.

Her fingers twitched as they came to rest on one of the daggers. She picked it up and gripped it in her hand, eyes scanning the blade. "Look, I'll be honest," she said after a long minute of silence, and Leo felt his throat tighten in anticipation. That is, until she finished with, "I don't like you."

"Ouch," he said, wincing. Oddly, the statement had relaxed him a bit, giving him the jolt of courage he needed to say dryly, "You know, I kind of got a different vibe when you made out with me last month."

Suddenly, Reyna whipped around, taking a step that placed her right in front of Leo, her body maybe two inches from his. Whether on purpose or accidentally, the blade of the knife in her hand pushed against his leg—not enough to cut through the fabric of his jeans, but enough that he felt the pressure of the weapon. But he barely registered it at all, distracted as he was by her dark eyes staring intently into his own. There was anger on her face, but somehow it didn't seem to reflect in her eyes. In them was something else, some other emotion he couldn't figure out. If she was a machine, then all he'd need to do would be to take her apart, piece by piece, and learn everything he needed to know. But she wasn't a machine. She was a living person. And those baffled him beyond the slightest understanding.

For a long minute, they simply stared at each other as though a powerful static electricity had bound their eyes together. Then without warning, Reyna blinked once, then twice, as though trying to clear a dream from her head. She lowered her gaze, breaking the strange contact, and turned to the side, once again facing the wall.

"That was a mistake," she said, though her low voice broke just barely on the last word like she had a hard time getting it out. Leo didn't respond, his eyes still fixed on the place where hers had been just seconds before. So she cleared her throat and continued. "Neither of us can afford to be distracted right now. This mission is too important. We have to agree to keep everything professional."

Rather than wait for him to actually _agree_ to this agreement, she abruptly set the knife back down on its shelf and turned, sweeping past him at a quickened pace. He felt her arm brush against his as she passed and a jolt of electricity ran through him, dragging him out of whatever stupor he'd fallen into. On a whim, he spun around and grabbed her wrist, pulling back. Yanking her arm from his grip, she turned and stumbled, eyes widening, and braced both hands against his chest as she leaned into him to keep from falling. Again they both froze, eyes locked onto one another as if they'd been glued in place.

And there it was again—that odd, hidden emotion in Reyna's eyes that wasn't hate or anger or confusion. But this time, Leo felt a painful twisting sensation in his chest as he recognized it, knowing without a doubt what it was.

It was longing.

As though she sensed him come to this realization, she quickly lowered her head and shoved him away from her. He staggered backward against a table piled with bronze shields, his legs feeling like rapidly-melting rubber. Avoiding his eyes, she turned and stalked out of the storehouse, disappearing into the shadowy darkness as though she'd been nothing but a ghost all along.

"Yeah," Leo said to the empty air after Reyna was long gone, stunned disbelief numbing his skin like ice. "Professional."

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><p><strong>Yikes, drama! Haha. So for all of you who've been asking about Leo and Reyna, sorry - I'm not gonna make it that easy. Heh heh.<strong>

**Anyway, so yes, our favorite son of Hephaestus is gonna have it kind of rough during this story. Everything will come together later on, I promise. But for now, how 'bout leaving me a review? Pretty please?**

**Have a nice weekend, gang! Later days!**

**-oMM**


	8. VIII Leo

**Hi, gang! Good weekend? Ready for another chapter? I like this one. Nice and dramatic, just the way I like 'em, haha.**

**Thanks to all of you who reviewed last week! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>VIII<br>LEO**

In the end, Leo did end up at Bunker 9 after all, spending the greater part of the day packing for the trip and ensuring that Festus was fully outfitted and ready. A few other people were milling about the bunker, busy with some task or another, but for the most part he was left alone in the dragon's warehouse home. Which, unfortunately, gave him plenty of time to think—something he was seriously starting to hate.

After that brief encounter with Reyna, Leo was fairly certain that the kiss had meant something to her—maybe even more certain than he was about whether or not it had meant something to _him_. But he also realized that she was desperate to keep it hidden. What really bothered him was why? Did some part of her hate him that much that she didn't want to admit to it? It was the only explanation that he could come up with. And frankly, it made him a bit angry. The least she could do was treat him like a person—tell him the truth so they could get over it and move on with their lives. If she kept acting weird around him, it would only serve to make this quest they were about to take on extremely difficult.

Leo sighed heavily as he stuffed his last bag into the cargo compartment on Festus's left flank and snapped it closed. He turned and leaned his back against the dragon's warm, metal surface, rubbing his forehead with his hands. Festus's tail curled around Leo and rubbed at his ankle, and he looked up to see the dragon's neck twisted toward him, bronze head tilted to the side in an almost questioning gesture.

With a small smile, Leo reached out and touched Festus's nose. Two tiny puffs of steam blew from the dragon's nostrils. "I wish some people made as much sense as you, buddy," he said to the automaton. "Then I wouldn't be so whacked out of my comfort zone. And this mission wouldn't be so totally screwed." Festus opened his jaws and gave a sharp series of clicks in response, and Leo nodded in agreement. "You can say that again."

"I'll never get how you understand that thing."

Leo jumped a mile high at the voice, whipping toward it and almost tripping over Festus's tail. He breathed out and relaxed when he saw Nico leaning against the work table near the wall with his arms folded, dark eyes studying the bronze dragon.

"Are you gonna do that this whole trip?" Leo asked, raising an eyebrow. He could have _sworn_ the guy hadn't been standing there twelve seconds ago.

Nico shrugged, unfazed. "Probably."

Leo shook his head and stepped away from Festus, who had turned to observe the newcomer. "Anyway, I'd watch what you say around _'that thing'_, considering he's gonna be the only thing between you and twenty-thousand feet of open air. Wouldn't want to get on his bad side." He smirked to accompany the joke, knowing that Festus would never intentionally drop someone, but still Nico's eyebrows drew together in an expression of unease.

"It _is_ safe, right?" he said, and Leo shared Festus's twinge of annoyance at being continually referred to as 'it'.

"Of course he's safe. Way improved since the first model—trust me, you'll love it. Imagine having your own personal seats on top of a jet plane flying at cruising speed. It's awesome." Leo grinned, until he noticed that Nico had paled at the description, his fingers just barely tightening around his arms. Realization struck Leo and he asked, "Are you afraid of flying?"

"No," Nico responded a little too quickly, eyes still trained sideways on Festus. "I'm just… more comfortable with my feet on the ground. Or _under _the ground."

Leo forced himself not to laugh. From what he knew of Nico di Angelo, the guy wasn't scared of _anything_. "You're afraid of flying." It wasn't a question that time. Nico glared at him, a scowl taking over his features, and Leo held up his hands. "Hey, it's okay. Look, just trust me, alright? There's nothing to worry about. I wouldn't have volunteered Festus for the flight if I didn't think he could handle it." His serious tone seemed to placate Nico and he visibly relaxed a bit, though he still eyed the dragon with a touch of apprehension.

"What were you saying about the mission being totally screwed?" Nico asked, probably in an attempt to change the subject. He picked up a remote for some contraption or another from the worktable beside him and flipped it absently in his hands.

"Oh, that," Leo said lamely, trying to come up with an excuse. In the end, he decided on a part-truth and explained, "I meant Reyna. I don't know if you've noticed, but she and I don't exactly see eye to eye. Probably started when that eidolon possessed me last year and had me inadvertently declare war on her."

"She's… tough to get close to, I'll give you that," Nico replied. "But she's also dedicated. Long as we don't do anything to tick her off, she'll be a big help on this trip."

"Easier said than done," Leo pointed out, knowing that he'd already done enough to tick Reyna off. Not to mention the fact that she'd been even more on edge since the lunar eclipse—not that she didn't have a right to be. She'd lost a number of her friends and been thrown into a war all on the same night. All things considered, she was handling it very well.

"She knows how important this is," Nico said, his voice turning grave. "We all do. I know I'm usually the last person to say this, but we _have_ to work together. If we don't… we won't have a chance of making it back."

Leo glanced over at Nico as the son of Hades stared hard at the floor, his expression stony. He thought of the promise he'd made Hazel to look after Nico and make sure he made it home, and a metallic sort of resolve dripped through him like molten steel. If Reyna didn't want to talk about whatever spark did or didn't exist between them, then he wouldn't talk about it either. But he wouldn't take her distant avoidance anymore. Like Nico said, they needed to work like a team. He was determined to keep that promise to Hazel, and if returning things with Reyna to normal was the way to do it, then so be it.

"I guess that settles it," Leo said matter-of-factly, stretching his arms out in front of him. "I mean, I don't know about you, but I'm not planning on dying on this quest." Nico looked up with a humorless smirk, which Leo took to mean that he felt the same. "Anyway, time's almost up. I'm gonna head up to the mess hall and grab some last-minute grub." He grinned and gestured to Festus, who opened his mouth and clicked excitedly. "Want a lift?"

Nico's smirk vanished. "I'll walk," he said shortly.

"Suit yourself." Leo climbed onto the front-most of the four built-in seats atop the dragon's back, not bothering to strap himself in. They weren't going far. "Meet you at go-time."

-ψ-ψ-ψ-

They had compromised the light deficit situation by moving some of the fixtures from the cabin area to cover the dining pavilion while Leo and the other Hephaestus kids worked on a more permanent solution, which resulted in a slightly dim atmosphere over both locations. Leo had planned on grabbing a quick bite to eat and getting a move on, but when he reached the mess hall that evening something caught his eye—a certain person sitting alone at a table and picking uninterestedly at a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. After a brief moment of indecision, Leo snatched up a plate of pizza and a glass of water and made a beeline for the table, deciding to try and fix one more thing before he left.

With that in mind, he set his food down and dropped onto the bench, saying flatly and without pretext, "We need to talk."

Jason looked up from his untouched dinner. "Are you breaking up with me?" he asked dully.

Leo sighed. "First of all, if you're gonna make a joke, you have to put your heart into it. Some fake tears, the big, pouty, blue eyes, _something_."

The corner of Jason's mouth lifted in something between a smile and a smirk. "Sorry," he replied in the same monotonous voice. "I forgot I was talking to the master."

There was something vaguely offensive about his tone, but Leo brushed it off and said, "Thank you. And second of all…" He paused, letting his voice and his expression grow serious. "I'm not the one you need to worry about breaking up with you." Jason looked up and met Leo's eyes, his eyebrows angling in an expression of mild anxiety. With a pointed look, Leo added, "I take it by your stunned silence that you know what I'm talking about."

"Yeah," Jason admitted unnecessarily, tired, bloodshot eyes falling back to his spaghetti. Leo felt a twinge of sympathy for how worn out his friend looked. He understood how hard it must have been for Jason to lose such a substantial chunk of Camp Jupiter, but at the same time it was frustrating to watch him give up so completely.

"Well?" Leo said sharply when he realized no other response was forthcoming. "Are you gonna do something about it?"

"Why should I?" Jason said with a shrug, defeat in his voice. "I don't deserve—"

"Oh, don't start that again," Leo interrupted irritably. "I'm sick of you moping around feeling sorry for yourself. Have you even noticed that the whole camp has started avoiding you? You're like a freakin' raincloud, man. And that's impressive, considering we're all living in an eternal night already."

"Whatever." A touch of indignation had entered Jason's voice, which Leo supposed was a good thing. Any emotion had to be better than none at all. "You just don't get it."

"No, I don't get it," Leo agreed with a frown. "How 'bout you explain it to me? Tell me why you've turned into this… shell of a person. You used to be a leader, didn't you? What happened to that guy?"

"He let a hundred and fifty people die!" Jason snapped, eyes darting up to meet Leo's. "A leader? All he did was lead them to an early grave. He was weak, and he failed."

"So _what?_ Everybody screws up sometimes. That doesn't mean you have to shut all your friends out."

Jason's eyes suddenly hardened. "You have _no_ right to lecture me about shutting people out, Leo."

Leo stared at Jason, feeling like he'd been slapped in the face. A lump formed in his throat when he realized that Jason was right. Of all people, who was he to scold someone for distancing themselves from others? Wasn't that what he did on a daily basis? He tried to convince himself that it was different, but when it came down to it, the only real difference was that Leo lied about what was bothering him while Jason didn't. Honest to a fault, the son of Jupiter couldn't hide when he was hurting and angry. And maybe that made him come off as weak and self-pitying, but it only made Leo a liar. And try as he might to believe that his way was better, he knew it only made him that much worse.

After a long minute, Leo swallowed hard, his throat dry. "Talk to Piper," he said stiffly. He couldn't refute Jason's argument, so he decided not to bother trying. "You guys need each other."

Jason gave a humorless, self-deprecating smirk, shaking his head at his still-untouched spaghetti. "No one needs me," was all he said.

Every cell in Leo's body screamed with frustration. He wondered briefly if this was how Piper felt when she tried to talk to Jason and his respect for her heightened. "We're in a _war_, man," Leo pointed out, gesturing to the general air around him. "Yeah, we messed up. People died. It sucks. I'm not saying you should get over it, but if you don't change your attitude, you're just gonna get more people killed."

"See? You know it was me who got them killed."

Leo scowled. "You know that's not what I—"

"Why are you here, Leo?" Jason interrupted with a pained sort of look, like the conversation was physically hurting him.

Leo met Jason's eyes and said firmly, "Because I'm your friend."

"Really?" There was an obvious skepticism in Jason's voice that made Leo frown in mild confusion. "Friends are supposed to be there for each other. You shut me out a long time ago. Now I'm just returning the favor."

"I'm _trying_ to be there for you," Leo argued. "Look, I'm leaving soon, okay? I just wanted to try and fix things before I—"

"Right. Because that's what a repair man does, isn't it? Fix stuff without getting attached."

A little stunned, Leo opened his mouth but could think of nothing to say. Had Jason always thought of him that way, or was it just his anger and frustration doing the talking? He sincerely hoped it was the latter, but some part of him knew that somewhere, Jason had a point. Leo had spent most of his life running away, avoiding attachment. This time, he'd made the decision to stop—to stay at Camp Half-Blood and devote his time to protecting it. But that didn't change the fact that running and hiding were in his nature, even if now he was doing it differently.

"What, now you're speechless?" Jason said when Leo didn't respond. "That's a first." Oddly, there was no venom or even sarcasm in his voice. It was just dull and tired. "I get what you want, okay? But just give it up. You and Reyna are going on this big, heroic quest to save the world while I stay here and try not to get everybody else killed. It's what I get for letting so many people down, I get it. It should be me going on that quest. It could've been my only chance to fix what I messed up."

Leo shook his head. "But if you went, then—"

"We would've failed, I know."

Leo had to fight the urge to groan out loud. He was tired of Jason cutting him off and refusing to listen. He'd been about to say that if Jason went away, he'd lose the chance to make up with Piper and everyone else. He needed to be at camp. There was so much that only he could do, but he just didn't seem to get that. "Would you cut that out? That's not what I was—"

"I think your 'fixing' is having the opposite effect," Jason interrupted yet again, a tiny hint of irritation in his voice. "Just get going, Leo. Go be a hero and save everyone, like I couldn't do. Then come back and remind me again. Or, you know what—maybe you shouldn't bother coming back at all."

Jason might as well have punched Leo in the gut, because those words seemed to have the exact same effect. Was Jason really _that_ angry with him? _No,_ he told himself, though his mind's voice was a bit weak. _He's not mad at me. He's mad at himself. If I give up on him now, it'll be way too late to fix anything._

"I've got to go," Jason said abruptly, gathering his uneaten dinner in his hands. He stood up so forcefully he shoved the table away from him and the opposite edge slammed against Leo's stomach. He swallowed a pained grunt and got to his feet, darting out to intercept his friend as he started toward the east end of the open pavilion.

"Would you just listen to me?" he demanded, but Jason ignored him and instead swept wordlessly past him, his mouth pressed into a thin line. Leo spun around. "Jason. Hey!" He stalked forward just as Jason finally wheeled around. He barely caught the angry look in his friend's eyes before they collided—and the entirety of Jason's uneaten plate of spaghetti and full glass of orange juice tipped and spilled down the front of Leo's clothes.

Leo yelped and staggered backward, lifting his arms as juice and marinara sauce soaked through his shirt and seeped over his jeans. Most of the noodles slid and piled on the floor, but a handful stuck in the sauce so that it looked like a small colony of worms had found a home on his chest. The ceramic plate smashed to pieces on the floor as silence fell in the hall, and for a minute Leo stared at the mess as though he wasn't sure how it had happened. When he slowly raised his head, he saw that Jason was watching with a strange mix of emotion on his face. Anger still sparked in his eyes, but they'd widened with a hint of surprise and regret.

"I'm s…" Jason started, but his voice trailed off as he met Leo's gaze. His mouth closed tightly and, without another word, he turned on his heel and walked away.

As Leo watched him go, he realized that his impromptu spaghetti bath had gotten the attention of everyone else in the mess hall, and now a few dozen faces were staring at him in shock. Normally, he didn't mind being the center of attention. But this time, predictably, he was less inclined toward the spotlight. Part of him was glad that no one was laughing, but another part wished they would. Maybe it would lessen the discomfort.

"You okay?" a female voice asked just to Leo's right. He turned his head to see tan skin, messy brown hair under a red bandanna, and concerned, hazel eyes. Nyssa.

"Yeah," Leo answered shortly, still feeling slightly stunned. "Fine. I just… I have to go." He should've made a joke and laughed the whole thing off, but for some reason his usual humor wouldn't come. He was suddenly glad he'd be leaving camp in less than half an hour—if he stayed, he'd be facing an impressive amount of uncomfortable questions.

Without waiting for a response, he stepped over the pile of noodles, meatballs, and broken glass on the floor and walked quickly out of the mess hall, juice and sauce now soaking through to his skin. He realized halfway that he'd left without finishing his own dinner, but oddly enough it didn't matter. He suddenly wasn't hungry anymore.

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><p><strong>If there's a name for the LeoJason ship, I will literally cry if it's not "Greased Lightning". Just gonna throw that out there.**

**Anyway, drama, drama, and more drama! Fun, huh? I think so, at any rate. I love long, drawn-out conflicts with happy endings - if that's an indication of most of my writing, haha.**

**So drop me a review on your way out, and I'll see you all on Friday for the start of our quest! Later days!**

**-oMM**


	9. IX Leo

**Happy Friday, gang! If anyone's interested, I added a section to my profile that's tracking my progress with all my ongoing stories. Check it out if you'd like to see where I'm at with this, or if you're reading Fire at Will. But as for right now, ready to start the quest? Then heeeeere we go!**

**Thanks to everybody who reviewed earlier this week. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>IX<br>LEO**

Leo was supposed to meet Reyna and Nico on the hill near Peleus's tree at 7:00 P.M., but after his encounter with Jason at the mess hall he decided to head back to his cabin to wash up before setting out. He figured his traveling companions would rather he be a few minutes late than show up on time smelling like citrus and marinara.

Predictably, he got quite a few questions and jibes on his way across the camp, and he did his best to meet them with a joke and a smile layered over some stupid excuse as to why he was wearing dinner instead of eating it. A mistake. A mix-up. A clumsy accident. And it had been, hadn't it? It wasn't as though Jason had thrown the plate at him on purpose. The fact that he'd started to apologize was evidence enough of that. But the fact that he never _finished_ apologizing was evidence that even though he hadn't meant to, he didn't feel all that bad. And what did that mean for them? Jason had been acting so different lately that it had long since started to worry Leo (among his other friends), but now he was afraid there wouldn't be any going back. Some of the things Jason had said to him seemed like nothing he would ever say under normal circumstances. If he was really that far gone, then… Leo really hoped Piper would be able to get through to Jason somehow while he and the others were away. Something told him she was the only one with any chance.

After a quick shower and change of clothes, Leo met Festus in the grass outside the cluster of cabins and the two of them set off for the meeting place. Nico and Reyna were already there, as well as a small host of people stopping by to see them off—Piper, Hazel, Annabeth, Percy, and—strangely—Octavian. Unsurprisingly, Piper was first to spot Leo and wave him over. Also unsurprisingly, Jason was nowhere to be seen.

"About time," Nico said, though there was no real irritation in his voice. "We were getting ready to leave without you."

Leo smirked. "That would've been impressive, considering you didn't have this guy." He patted the side of Festus's snout and the dragon nipped at his arm affectionately.

"Let's just get this over with," Nico replied, eyeing Festus somewhat nervously. Leo opened the dragon's rear storage compartment so Nico and Reyna could deposit their things. Nico kept his iron sword belted at his side, and Reyna chose to hold onto her dagger. Other than that, everything was packed safely away.

When they were done, Octavian stepped toward Reyna and said, "You're doing the right thing, leaving me in charge. I promise—"

"As I said," Reyna interrupted him sharply, eyes flashing, "you are not _'in charge'_." Leo raised his eyebrows as he watched the exchange, wondering why on earth Reyna would leave Octavian in any position of authority. She must have seen something in him that no one else did. "You will be filling in as substitute praetor in my place, but no decisions can be made without first consulting Jason. You and he are in charge _together_. Do _not_ go claiming that I've left the Legion in your hands alone."

"You may as well have," Octavian shot back, crossing his arms, and Leo hated the part of himself that agreed with the augur. "In case you haven't noticed, Jason hasn't exactly been the most active of leaders lately."

"I don't care. Do _nothing_ without his assent."

Octavian looked like he wanted to argue, but Percy took that time to cut in, "Don't worry, Reyna. We'll make sure he doesn't go on a crazy power trip." Octavian glowered at him, and Percy shot back a steely sort of smile in response. Surprisingly, the augur didn't say another word, and Reyna offered a curt nod in agreement.

Hazel stepped forward and hugged Nico tightly, saying in a firm voice, "Be careful. All of you."

"This mission is no walk in the park," Annabeth pointed out, her expression serious. "Remember what Chiron said—if you get into trouble, back out. We'd rather lose the advantage than lose any of you. I know this could change everything, but it's not worth it if—"

"Annabeth, I think they get it," Percy cut her off gently, draping an arm around her shoulders. She bit her lip anxiously, falling silent, and Percy turned to face the others. He grinned, but Leo couldn't help noticing that it was somewhat forced. "Kick some tail, guys," he said. "We'll be rooting for you."

"Back at you," Leo responded, before Piper came up and pulled him into a hug.

"Good luck," she said, raising her voice so they all would hear.

Leo held onto her and muttered in her ear, "Remember what I said." His gut told him she was the only one who could get through to Jason, but for that to happen she had to be willing to try. He felt her nod in response and a tickle of relief spread through him. Maybe things would get better before they returned.

At last, Reyna turned toward Nico and Leo. "We should set out. We're behind schedule enough as it is."

"Aye-aye, captain," Leo said with an exaggerated salute. Reyna shot him a slight frown and he grinned, sticking to his decision to try and return things as closely to normal as possible. Her gaze softened and she returned the smallest of smiles, which Leo found promising—though she was sure to take the third seat back once they'd climbed atop the mechanical dragon, placing deliberate distance between them. _Oh, well_, Leo thought. _You win some, you lose some_.

Once they'd all strapped in, Leo tapped the back of Festus's neck and the dragon stood on its bulky legs, the creaking sound of metal shifting against metal echoing in the evening air. Festus shook his massive head back and forth, stretching his neck, and spread and contracted his bronze wings, almost taking off Octavian's head in the process.

"Ready?" Leo asked the two behind him, shooting a grin over his shoulder.

Nico winced and said, "No."

"Let's go," was Reyna's response.

Deciding that was the best he was going to get, Leo spun back around and rapped his knuckles lightly against the base of Festus's neck, leaning forward. "Alright, buddy," he said, exhilaration starting to flood his veins. "Let's hit the sky."

Festus opened his jaws and loosed a loud, mechanical roar that made everyone but Leo throw their hands over their ears. Then he reared back on his legs, spread his wings, and leapt into the air, soaring high above the camp. In a matter of seconds, Leo could no longer make out the forms of the people below and the buildings were reduced to tiny black dots, layers of shadow over shadow.

As they glided away from Long Island, he almost didn't believe this was real. Flashes of the first quest he'd ever been on sprang up behind his eyes—the winter solstice a year and a half ago when he, Jason, and Piper had set out to rescue the goddess Hera. That was barely a day after he'd first found Festus in the woods, and now leaving camp with him again brought Leo a powerful surge of nostalgia. Ever since the dragon had been shot down in Omaha, Nebraska during that very same journey, Leo had made it his strong, personal goal to one day rebuild Festus to the magnificent creature he'd been—maybe even something better. That goal had been put on hold during the Giant War, but as soon as Gaea was gone Leo threw every free minute into working on the automaton dragon. He and his half-siblings had even built a new warehouse in the bunker for just that purpose. It had taken a long time, but with the help of the Archimedes sphere he'd swiped in Rome last summer, a gigantic heap of excavated bronze metal, and every possible instrument his magic tool belt had to offer, he was finally able to do it. Festus was back, and better than ever. And despite the dire severity of the trip he, Reyna, and Nico had volunteered for, Leo couldn't help at least a little excitement.

"This isn't as bad as I thought it'd be," Nico said from behind Leo, and he twisted in his seat to see him leaning sideways and looking down toward the ground far below. "All I can see is darkness."

"You should feel right at home, then," Leo joked. When Nico turned to glare at him, he grinned and said, "Sorry, kidding. But what'd I tell you? Nothing to worry about."

Nico's eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch as he studied Leo, and Leo suddenly felt a jolt of self-consciousness. What was he looking at? "Can this thing fly on its own, or are you controlling it somehow?" Nico asked.

"He's not completely self-sustaining," Leo answered, "but he's got a built-in navigation system and temporary auto-pilot feature so I'm allowed to relax a little. Can you imagine how much this would suck if I had to keep my foot on a gas pedal?"

"Well, if that's the case," Nico went on, not responding to the attempt at humor, "don't you think you should try to get some sleep while you can? You look like you just floated out of the Styx."

Leo tried not to scowl. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd slept—three days ago? Four? What bothered him more was that it was really that obvious. "Look who's talking," he said to Nico in an attempt to diffuse the conversation.

Nico only shrugged. "I always look like this. It's genetic." Then his eyes grew serious and he added, "Remember what I said about working as a team. No offense, but I don't trust someone as obviously exhausted as you watching my back."

"Yeah, yeah." Leo shifted back around in his seat and stared at the bronze plating of Festus's neck, knowing that Nico had a point. Now that they were in the air and the adrenaline was fading from Leo's body, his muscles had started to sag like weights had been tied around his limbs. He really _was_ exhausted, and could do with even a few hours of sleep. But anymore, more than half of his restful nights were dotted with visions of that same nightmare, and he didn't exactly relish the idea of seeing it now, when he was over fifteen thousand feet in the air.

Still, the more rational part of his brain insisted that he needed rest if he was going to be any use to the others on this trip, and besides there was always a chance the dream would leave him alone for a little while. Maybe being away from camp with an important task would help get his mind off his own troubles and he could sleep peacefully. Either way, he supposed it was worth a try, if only to replenish some of his lost energy. And by the time he gave in and leaned forward against the warm metal of Festus's neck, his eyes were already drooping.

Miraculously, Leo achieved a whopping three and a half hours of uninterrupted sleep before the dream decided it was done letting him off easy.

He never saw how the fire started. Not once. All he could ever remember was standing in some shadowy void while cackling, black and blue flames gnawed at his skin like hungry predators. He had no sense of time or location; all of his senses were focused only on the pain and the fear. He could feel the shadow of death breathing scalding air down the back of his neck. He wanted to run—to scream, to cry, to _wake up_. But no matter how loudly his mind yelled and pounded the inside of his skull, his body was too weak and agonized to obey.

"_Nothing can stop the flame of Night." _A woman's voice—Nyx. Cold like ice despite the burning heat of her dark fire. Her white-gold eyes shone through the flickering tongues of darkness, laughter in her gaze. Letting out an angry scream that scraped his throat raw, Leo staggered toward her through the fire. After three steps his legs gave out and he collapsed to his knees, slamming his fists against the dark, invisible floor. He tried to breathe, but only ash entered his lungs.

"_Burn, little hero,"_ Nyx said from above him, her voice chilly and soft like a deathly lullaby. _"Burn!"_

"Leo!"

Leo's eyes snapped open and for a second he could swear Festus was covered in black fire. But then the horrifying illusion faded, and he was staring at the metallic bronze surface of the dragon's neck.

"Leo, hey! You okay?"

Leo shoved away the sound of Nyx's voice. Nico. It was Nico talking. Not her. "What…?" he finally muttered, strangely out of breath as though he'd just run all four legs of a relay race.

"You just… you were _smoking_," Nico explained, sounding alarmed. "I thought it was the dragon at first. I was gonna wake you up, but then you screamed like you were being tortured. What the heck happened?"

Leo twisted around to see that both Nico and Reyna were staring at him with wide eyes and looks of surprised concern. With difficulty, he shook his head, trying to forcibly calm his fried nerves. "Nothing. I just… A dream. It was a dream. That's all." He knew he probably sounded like a total idiot. Had he really been yelling in his sleep and giving off smoke? If that was true, it was a good thing he woke up when he did. He didn't think his traveling companions would appreciate any spontaneous combustions mid-flight.

"A dream," Reyna repeated with a frown. When Leo met her gaze, he got the feeling she was seeing into his mind—just like the night he'd told her about the first dream. Could she tell it was the same one now?

"Yeah, nothing to worry about," Leo said, feeling his body finally relax as the last images of the nightmare faded. He gave Nico and Reyna a reassuring grin and added, "Sorry for freaking you guys out. Great start to the trip, huh?"

Reyna continued to frown at Leo as Nico smirked and shook his head, saying dryly, "I swear, if you catch me on fire, I'm gonna kill you."

"Consider me warned," Leo replied. He shifted back around in his seat and stretched his arms. "How long was I asleep?"

"A few hours," Reyna answered from the back. "We were actually just discussing whether we should rest as well when you—" She broke off suddenly as the loud sound of creaking metal interrupted and Festus's wings stretched flat, his body angling into a forward dive.

"What the—?" Nico said in surprise.

"Uh, buddy?" Leo called to the dragon, tapping a hand against his bronze back. "This really isn't the time to be showing off. We've got a schedule to keep." The sinking feeling of dread that had begun to form in Leo's gut intensified when Festus's only response was to increase the angle of his dive, picking up speed with every passing second. The darkness whipped past like a sheet, and Leo had to throw an arm in front of his face to shield his eyes from the wind.

Gritting his teeth, Leo leaned forward and slid his fingers under the exposed lip of a bronze plate at the base of the dragon's neck. A thin section popped open to reveal the automaton's control panel—a complicated switchboard surrounded by an array of colored wires. He'd had to rebuild the entire system from scratch, which was the main reason no one could fly the dragon but him. He was the only one who knew instinctively how his own mind worked.

The altimeter and pressure gauges were dropping at an alarming rate, but from what Leo could see the drive looked to be in perfect working order. If the power converter had somehow failed, an alert would be visible from the control panel. But amazingly, everything looked fine. The system hadn't even shut down. If Leo didn't know any better, he would say the only possibility was that Festus was accelerating toward the ground _on purpose_.

"Festus, what are you doing?" Leo shouted, pounding on the dragon's neck so hard he probably bruised his knuckles. But still, Festus didn't respond.

"Leo...!" Nico yelled warningly over the sound of the wind.

Panic welling up inside him, Leo shot the others a helpless look over his shoulder. "Hang on, guys!" he called back. "I think we're going down!"

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><p><strong>Not a good way to start a quest, huh? But woo! A cliffie! My favorite way to end a chapter. Especially when we switch POVs next chapter, heh heh. Don't worry, though—you may not have to wait as long as you think to see what happens here. That being said, any guesses who the fourth and final POV narrator will be? Here's a hint for those of you who know me a bit better—it's my absolute favorite PJOHoO character ;)**

**Leave me a review and we'll find out soon! Later days!**

**-oMM**


	10. X Nico

**Hi, gang! Tuesday again :) Thanks as always to everybody who reviewed last chapter (I know you guys love my cliffhangers, don't even try to deny it). So let's all give a warm welcome to my fourth and final (and a bit unorthodox) POV narrator, and on we go! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>X<br>NICO**

The good news: When the world is completely covered in darkness, you can use shadow-travel pretty much anywhere. The bad news: Shadow-traveling while falling through the air at terminal velocity is _freaking hard_.

No sooner had the words 'going down' left Leo's mouth than Nico had twisted in his seat and made a grab for each of the people on either side of him with only one goal in mind: _get out of that dive._ 'Hang on'? Yeah, right. No way was he sticking around to see if the dragon decided to abandon its apparent suicide mission. There were plenty of ways to die that were higher on his list than a fatal nosedive strapped to the back of a sixty-foot kamikaze metal reptile.

The instant Nico was sure his grip on Leo and Reyna was strong enough, he squeezed his eyes shut and jerked his body backward, trying to mentally gauge the distance between them and the ground below (which was extremely difficult considering their speeding velocity). He visualized a shadowy rope tying him to where he wanted to be as the darkness closed in around them and he felt the pressure of the harness belting him to the falling mechanical dragon vanish. The whipping shadows tried to wrench Leo and Reyna from Nico's grasp, but he held on, and a second later the darkness thinned and they fell the remaining four or five feet to a hard, uneven ground.

Nico pushed himself up on his hands and spat out a mouthful of dirt, wincing at the new bruise on his side where the hilt of his sword had poked him hard during the short fall. The low buzzing in the back of his head had intensified a bit, but he ignored it. Ever since Erebos had risen and the war had begun, it had been there—a dull, whispering ache between his ears that just wouldn't go away. The buzzing was his death sense, which seemed to be locked in the _ON_ position with so much madness running wild all over the world. The headache, he knew, was more complicated. The balance between life and death was off-kilter, the border between the human world and the Underworld skewed almost beyond recognition. Now, Nico had a feeling that was because the gods—including Thanatos, the god of death—were held prisoner and locked in slumber. Souls both human and monster alike were swerving back and forth across the border, which was never meant to happen. So naturally, he was the one suffering for it.

"What the—what just happened? Where's Festus?"

Looking up, Nico saw that Leo was running back and forth frantically, his neck craned farther back than should have been humanly possible. "What the heck just—?"

"Would you chill out?" Nico interrupted sharply. Panicking wasn't going to get them anywhere. He glanced around briefly and realized they were in a hilly forest, surrounded by trees. "We're on the ground, should be just below where we were. Sorry I didn't give you a warning, but you said it yourself—we were going down. _Somebody_ had to get us out of there."

Leo turned and fixed wide, anxious eyes on Nico. "What about Festus?" Nico had barely gotten to his feet before Leo charged in and grabbed the front of his shirt, demanding, "You didn't _leave him_, did you?"

"Have you ever tried shadow-traveling mid-freefall?" Nico shot back, irritated. "It was hard enough just grabbing you two! How the heck was I supposed to drag along a ten-ton hunk of metal? I'm not friggin' Superman!"

"Calm down, both of you," Reyna cut in, climbing to her feet and brushing dirt from her clothes. "Nico acted quickly and very well might have saved our lives, but this isn't the time for arguing about it. Leo, what happened up there?"

"I don't know," Leo said, letting go of Nico and sounding a bit dumbfounded. "He was working fine. Really, I swear. It was like—" He broke off suddenly as a deafening sound of splintering wood rose from somewhere nearby, followed by the creak of metal and a dull _boom_ that shook the ground and made them all stumble. Leo's eyes widened like he'd been stabbed in the stomach. "Aw, no, no, no, no, no," he muttered quickly before turning on his heel and dashing off toward the sounds.

"Wait!" Reyna called after him, and she and Nico exchanged stricken glances before following. They didn't have to go far before they found what they were looking for.

The dragon must have decided to pull out of its dive at the last minute—or, at the very least, slow it down—because the damage wasn't quite as bad as expected. It was still in one piece, albeit one piece that was heavily dented and completely caked with dirt and leaves. Its neck was bent at an odd angle and its wings were crinkled like paper. Oil was streaming from a tear in its hide and another across its snout. One eye was dull and colorless, while the red light in the other was dim and flickering.

The automaton may have survived the crash, but that was more than anyone could say for the surrounding bit of forest. At least a score of trees had been knocked down or broken in half. Huge splinters stuck up in all directions. A deep, mucky trench stretched out behind the dragon's flank where it had dragged across the ground, a few oversized branches flattened in the dirt at the bottom of it. Nico sincerely hoped there was no one around, because the chances of all this going unnoticed weren't exactly favorable.

By the time Nico and Reyna pushed through the wreckage, Leo had already circled the dragon a few times, assessing the damage with a frantic expression and mumbling, "Okay, that's salvageable. This could have been worse. At least that's still in-tact. Where am I gonna find another one of _those_?"

Reyna huffed, crossing her arms as she took in the scene. "So can you fix it?" she called.

Leo leaned up from behind the dragon's neck, his hands already grimy with oil. "I think so," he replied, serious eyes studying the automaton. "But it'll take some time. Might set us back a few hours."

"Great," Nico grumbled, leaning his back against a nearby unbroken tree. "Wonder where we are, anyway…"

"Indiana," Reyna said at once, and both Nico and Leo shot her incredulous looks.

"How do you know that?" Leo asked.

She rolled her eyes and nodded toward a nearby pile of broken wood. Nico saw a hint of color and stepped forward to see that half-buried in a mess of splinters was some kind of cracked, wooden sign. Beneath the dirt, he could barely make out the words _'Welcome to the Hoosier National Forest' _and below that _'Charles C. Deam Wilderness Area. 12,935 Acres. Lawrence County, Indiana.'_

"Oh," Leo said lamely.

With a groan, Nico added, "We're still a long way from Death Valley. We'd better get moving again as soon as possible."

"Assuming it's safe to take the dragon," Reyna pointed out.

Leo seemed to tense, but he didn't turn on Reyna. Instead, he climbed onto the automaton's neck and lifted some sort of panel on its back, eyes studying whatever lay beneath it. "I can't figure out what went wrong," he said, sounding frustrated. "Everything was working fine—it still is, aside from the collision damage. He didn't malfunction, I'm sure of it." He sat back, scratching his head at the puzzle he couldn't solve. "It was like… like someone was controlling him from the outside. But that's not possible, so I don't know what—"

"How 'bout a look-back on your definition of 'possible'?"

Nico jumped and blinked at the voice that had come from nowhere before suddenly the darkness over Festus seemed to shimmer. The next thing he knew, standing on the dragon's back was a person—a tall, skinny young man, maybe twenty-three or twenty-four years old. He had short, midnight-blue hair styled into deadly-looking spikes and was dressed like some sort of punk rocker—tight jeans, studded boots, faded leather jacket with sleeves cut off at the shoulders. At least half a dozen belts were wrapped around his hips—some made of chain, some of leather. His arms were covered in tattoos Nico couldn't make out at a distance and were folded across his chest, rows of rope bands tied around his wrists. He was eyeing them all with a smirk that pulled at the twin piercings on his bottom lip, his chin raised in an air of smug amusement.

"Who are _you_?" Nico asked in a less-than-friendly voice, narrowing his eyes at their visitor. This was _not_ what they needed right now.

The man's smirk widened almost to a sneer. "I know you," he said lightly, pointing a finger at Nico and ignoring the question. "You're Hades' kid. Big fan. That whole 'death-sense' thing? Pretty rad, man, I'm sayin'. The doom around you is _way_ whacked-out."

"What…?" Nico stammered, taken aback. He had no idea how to respond to that.

"Wait-wait-wait," Leo cut in. He'd spun around so fast when the guy had appeared that he'd slid off the dragon's neck and onto the ground, and now that he was back on his feet he was staring at the new arrival with wide, accusing eyes. "What did you say before? About 'possible'…" He shook his head, seeming to come to some sort of conclusion. "You can't have… Were _you_ the one that did this?"

"Whooooa," the man said, his dark eyes seeming to light up as he looked over at Leo. "You got a _wicked_ doom-aura, bro. It's all around you, like… like smoke. Or black fire."

A flash of panic crossed Leo's face and he suddenly scrambled backward, almost falling over again. Nico felt a spark of curiosity at his reaction to the seemingly meaningless jibe, but a second later Leo's expression had hardened and he glared at the guy. "D… Don't change the subject. It _was_ you, wasn't it? You crashed my dragon!"

The man chuckled and shifted his weight, and as he did so Nico realized that he wasn't actually _standing_ on Festus's back at all. His feet were floating just a few inches above the metal surface, like he was standing in midair. And not only that, but he didn't seem entirely _there_. His whole body was almost ethereal, just a tiny bit transparent like an almost-developed photograph.

"Who are you?" Nico asked again, though this time his voice was edged with apprehension.

"Been waitin' for some of you to try headin' west from that camp of yours." The guy unfolded his arms and placed both hands on his hips, a dark sort of grin appearing on his face. "Name's Moros. Good to meet ya, demigods."

A chill of dread crept down Nico's spine at the name, stories tickling in his memory. Some sort of recognition must have registered on his face, because Reyna leaned over and asked him, "Who?"

Nico swallowed hard, his throat dry. "Moros," he repeated. "The spirit of doom. If he's here to stop us from going west, then we're… Well…"

"Doomed?" Reyna guessed dryly.

Nico lifted a shoulder, eyes trained on the spirit still smirking evilly at him. "Pretty much."

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><p><strong>Short, I know. But the next chapter is almost 6,000 words, so there's that to look forward to (to gauge, this one was just under 2,000. Next one's about 3 times as long). Nice and exciting one next time, so just hand tight 'til Friday, okay?<strong>

**How 'bout a review? Love you guys! Later days!**

**-oMM**


	11. XI Nico

**Happy Friday! Whee! I'm in a great mood today, as per Friday-usual :D Enjoy this nice long, exciting chapter, everybody! Thanks for the reviews earlier this week!**

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><p><strong>XI<br>NICO**

The dull ache in Nico's head sharpened as he stared at Moros, trying to recall everything he knew about the spirit. His fingers twitched at his side, but he resisted the urge to draw his sword. "Why are you here?" he demanded. "I thought you were overseeing the sigma division of the Fields of Punishment. How'd you even get out? It's chaos down there." Nico had managed to get into the Underworld only once since the start of the Shadow War, and it hadn't been pretty. Without Hades and Persephone to hold things together, disaster had begun tearing down the careful order that had been in place for so long. Hardly any new souls made it across the border—only the ones that had fully accepted death. Souls from the Fields of Punishment had started to rebel against their overseers, spreading uproar throughout the Underworld. So far none had escaped back to the world of the living—after all, the Doors of Death were shut tight after last summer. But the way things were going, who knew how long that would last.

"I know, ain't it great?" Moros replied, grin widening. "Talk about doom. Man, the world's never felt so awesome. I would'a been happy just watchin' the show downstairs, but you know how it is. When Mother calls, you gotta answer."

"Mother?" Reyna repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Though he had a feeling the others could guess who 'Mother' was, Nico said in a low voice, "Nyx." Moros was another of the Queen of Night's children, just like Hypnos and Thanatos. Though it seemed this son was much more willing to help her out.

"Like I said," Moros went on, absently flicking some dirt from under a ghostly, black-painted fingernail, "I've been waitin' for some of you to head this way. I've had to settle for scarin' squirrels in this boring forest, and it ain't half as rad as scarin' demigods. Though you do tend to squeal the same." His lip curled in a sneer as he chuckled at his own joke, and an intense dislike for the guy swelled in Nico's chest, hardening his face into a scowl.

"So you crashed Festus and almost killed us," Leo said angrily, "for _fun?_"

Moros shrugged. "Not _just_ for fun. It's my job to stop you, you know? Not my fault the job happens to be right up my alley." He pulled his legs up and crossed them beneath him, so he was floating in the air sitting Indian-style. The chains hanging from his belts clinked when he moved. "Whoever said you gotta separate business from pleasure clearly wasn't in the right business."

Leo shook his head, looking mystified and furious at the same time. "I don't get it. How…?"

Moros leaned an elbow on his knee and rested his chin in his hand, grinning at Leo. "Like this," he said, before snapping his fingers. The sound of splintering wood immediately followed and Nico glanced around, searching for its source.

Reyna found it first. "Leo!" she yelled, throwing an arm out and pointing a finger. Nico followed her gaze just as Leo spun around to see a forty-foot tree tipping slowly toward him, picking up speed with each passing millisecond. He yelped in surprise and staggered backward, throwing himself out of the way as the tree crashed to the ground beside the metal dragon, inches away from squashing Leo like a bug.

"Impending doom," Moros said with a smile, looking like the term was music to his ears. "Ain't nothin' gets the blood flowing like it. Not that I've got blood to flow, but you catch my drift." He shrugged and waved off-handedly, as though they were having a perfectly normal conversation. "Anyway," he went on, stretching his arms and legs and returning to a standing position, "how 'bout let's get this show on the road? All this safety is really killing my buzz." Then without warning he snapped his fingers again, and a low, threatening growl sounded from the forest behind them. Nico, Leo, and Reyna spun around as the sound seemed to echo and intensify, joined by a small chorus of others just like it. Tiny pinpricks of light—about a dozen of them—blinked into existence through the darkness, and a chill crawled across Nico's skin as six snarling, gray wolves stepped slowly out from between the trees.

"Now it's a party!" Moros said gleefully, and Nico shot a glance over his shoulder to see the spirit fold his arms and grin. A loud growl brought his attention back to the wolves, all of whom had begun inching toward the trio of demigods with their teeth bared menacingly.

Hand reaching slowly for his sword, Nico started creeping back away from the animals, hoping Leo and Reyna would follow his lead. At the first sudden movement, he had no doubt the wolves would attack, and that would be better left until they had a bit more room to fight back. Thankfully, Leo and Reyna seemed to be thinking along the same lines, and they mirrored Nico's movements. The wolves followed them at the same slow pace, never breaking eye contact and occasionally snapping their jaws at empty air as though practicing a bite. The three had just barely stepped into the trench of loose dirt behind Festus when the lead wolf reared back on its haunches and Nico shouted, "Move!" the instant before it leapt for them.

As the animals all flashed into action, Nico quickly lost track of Leo and Reyna. He dove and rolled to the side as the lead wolf bounded toward him, and it landed in a slide in the dirt, twisting around to growl at him. By then he was back on his feet, turning to swing his sword at the wolf directly to his right. It ducked the blade, surprisingly fast, and lunged forward with open jaws. Nico jerked backward and the animal's teeth snapped closed right where he'd been standing. He sidestepped and swung his sword down, right over the wolf's back—but he stumbled in alarm when the blade swept harmlessly through its body without damaging it at all. He felt a little resistance, like he was slicing through water. But the expected solidity wasn't there. Stranger still, the animal seemed to flicker out of existence for a fraction of a second, like an old movie projection.

"What the—?" Nico stammered, throwing himself backward a few unsteady steps as the wolf turned and swiped at him, its fur appearing perfectly solid again.

"What the heck _are_ these things?" he heard Leo say. Chancing a brief look around, he saw Leo standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Reyna, a heavy-looking staple gun in his hands. Four of the wolves had formed a half-circle around them and were closing in. That was all the time Nico had to take in the scene, though, because the next second both the remaining wolves were on him again, one leaping high from his right and another darting in low from his left.

With a frustrated growl, he turned and jumped over the lower attacker, somersaulting over the dirt and coming up in a crouch. He spun around in time to see a set of deadly-sharp claws springing toward him and he threw up his sword instinctively to block the attack, not sure if it would work. But then he heard a sharp, scraping _clang_ as the wolf's claws scratched the iron surface. The wolf snarled and stepped back, aiming a bite at Nico's legs. He rolled to the side and swung his sword experimentally, clucking his tongue when again it slid harmlessly through the animal's back.

Mind and heart racing, Nico backed away from the pair of wolves, trying to figure out what to do. They must have been some kind of ghosts or spirits, called into being by Moros, because their color kept flickering and fading like they weren't really there. They seemed solid before an attack, and just vaguely transparent after. It didn't appear that they could be hurt, but for that brief instant he'd been able to connect with one. That had to mean something. There _had_ to be a way to fight them. Unfortunately, they didn't seem keen on giving him much time to think of a solution. Not a few seconds later, they both leapt at him again. With little room to dodge, he ducked and stepped to the side, avoiding one animal and facing the other head-on. He swept his sword through the air just as it reached him, aiming to deflect it again, but he was half a second too late. The animal's gray fur seemed to brighten as it growled and its claws connected with Nico's outstretched wrist, tearing a pair of thin, bloody lines down his forearm. But at the same time, the wolf's growl rose in pitch to a wounded howl, and Nico realized that the blade of his sword had sliced cleanly across its neck. It collapsed onto the ground, black dust rising from the cut and disintegrating into the air. Then a second later, the wolf's body dimmed and disappeared like a light going out.

Nico staggered backward, clamping a hand over the cuts on his right arm and staring in shock. He'd beaten one. How had that happened? Every other time he'd struck one of the animals, his blade had passed through it as though it wasn't there. What had been different this time?

A crazy thought struck him as he replayed the scene quickly in his head. He might have figured it out, but he couldn't be sure—not until he tried it again.

As the second wolf leaned back on its haunches, growling more angrily than ever and showing all of its teeth, Nico braced his stance and switched his sword to his left hand, dull spikes of pain shooting up and down his right. He flipped it and swung the blade in a circle, getting used to the grip and waiting for the wolf to make a move. Its dim gray fur flickered and brightened, and when it lunged, he was ready. He dug his feet into the ground and dropped to a crouch, stabbing forward with his sword and—miraculously—burying the iron blade in the wolf's neck. It whined loudly, before fading to darkness.

Now absolutely certain, Nico stood up straight and turned toward Leo and Reyna, shouting, "They're solid right before they strike! Attack then!" Both Leo and Reyna shot glances at him and nodded, and he rushed toward one of the remaining wolves without a second thought. It was risky, waiting until they attacked to fight back. But in order to strike, the animals had to be solid—which also made them vulnerable. Then and only then could they be hurt—and killed.

Watching Leo duck a would-be-fatal slice to the head out of the corner of his eye, Nico dodged in front of one of the wolves, claiming its attention. It stepped to the side and aimed a quick snap of its jaws at his legs, but he jumped backward. It responded quickly by leaping up, its claws shooting too quickly toward his throat, and he lifted his sword to block. He successfully avoided being impaled, but the wolf's weight barreled toward him, tackling him and knocking him to his back on the ground. Still solid, it jerked its open jaws toward his face and he twisted to the side as best he could, slicing his blade across the wolf's front legs in the process. It whimpered, allowing Nico enough room to scoot backward a bit farther out of harm's way.

He was just leaning up from the ground when Reyna called from behind him, "Nico, stay down!" Trusting her, he dropped his shoulders back to the dirt just in time to see her dagger go flying through the air above him, embedding itself in the side of the wolf's head. It howled and disappeared, dropping Reyna's knife to the ground.

Nico was about to turn and thank her when suddenly she gave a strangled yell. He rolled over on the ground and pulled himself up to see that a long, ropy vine from a nearby tree had wrapped itself tightly around her neck like a snake and pulled her to the ground, dragging her across the dirt. She kicked and pulled at the vine, but it didn't seem to be having any effect.

"Reyna!" Leo shouted, and Nico shot him a glance to see that he had evidently disposed of another wolf, leaving only two remaining. Springing to his feet, Nico spun and looked for Moros, only to find him sitting midair above Festus and smiling at them. He shrugged as if to say _'Accidents happen!'_ and Nico threw him a glare before turning back around. A jolt of dread ran through him when he saw that the living vine had lifted Reyna into the air and was dangling her by the neck from a tree branch, at least fifteen feet above the ground.

Nico clucked his tongue anxiously. The two wolves were closing in, and Reyna wouldn't last long in that state. He turned toward the pair of wolves, who were standing together, and headed sideways into their field of vision, sword at the ready. "Leo," he said urgently, "cut the vine!"

"On it," Leo responded immediately, running toward where Reyna was struggling against her leafy captor. Nico quickly ducked and rolled beneath a leap of one wolf and used his sword to deflect a claw-swipe of the other, shoving it to the side. He glanced over as Leo threw what looked like a screwdriver toward the ropy vine holding Reyna and it bounced off, whacking her on the shoulder as it fell back to the ground. "Oops," Leo muttered, wincing.

Nico wanted to smack him. "Are you kidding me?" he yelled. "Burn it!" The guy could summon fire at will, for crying out loud, and he chose to try and break the vine with a _screwdriver?_ What the heck was he thinking?

As Nico blocked another set of claws and tried to strike back, missing his mark, Leo responded dully, "Oh. Right." He raised a hand and his fingers twitched unsteadily. He seemed to hesitate for a brief moment, but before Nico could decide whether or not to yell at him to hurry his expression hardened and he thrust his arm upward, shooting a baseball-sized orb of orange flame into the air. It struck the middle of the vine and burned straight through, dropping Reyna like a sack of flour. Leo darted forward and caught her, dragging them both to the ground and breaking what would have been a nasty fall.

Nico breathed a short sigh of relief as he sidestepped a vicious bite, jabbing his blade into the wolf's shoulder at the same time and causing it to howl and vanish. Not a second later, something heavy slammed into him from behind and he felt the sharp sting of claws digging into his back as he was pushed face-first to the ground. He bit down hard on his tongue to keep from crying out and tried to twist around, but the snarling in his ear was way too close. A feeling of dread—of 'doom', even—washed over him for a brief second, but before the wolf struck a sudden and intense heat burned to life above Nico and he ducked, throwing his hands over his head as the wolf howled in pain. The next instant, the pressure of its paws against his back was gone.

Nico scrambled to his feet and looked around, noticing that all the ghostly animals had disappeared. Reyna was standing nearby, rubbing the bruise on her neck and glaring at Moros. Leo was beside her, wide eyes fixed on the empty air the last wolf had just vanished from. "Thanks," Nico said to him, realizing it must have been him who'd killed it.

Leo blinked as though he'd just realized Nico was there. Then his expression cleared and he grinned. "Don't mention…" He trailed off as his eyes shifted to something over Nico's shoulder and he suddenly yelled, "Hey!"

Nico spun around just in time to see something huge and bronze swinging toward him in a blur before a heavy hunk of metal crashed into him, throwing him off his feet and shoving him into the air. His back collided hard with the trunk of a tree and he slid to the ground, landing on his side and gasping for the breath that had been knocked from his lungs.

"Hey!" Leo yelled again from somewhere off to Nico's right. "Cut it out!"

Nico groaned and rolled over, pushing himself into a sitting position. His entire torso ached like he'd been hit by a bus. Looking up, he realized that the thing that had attacked him had in fact been Festus's tail—probably brought temporarily to life by Moros, who was doubled over in the air, laughing hysterically.

"No way, bro," Moros said when he'd calmed down enough to speak. He stood straight and Nico realized he was holding a flat, metal object the size of a CD in his hands. He flipped it in a circle and said, "You guys are off the rip. This is wicked."

By the time Nico struggled to his feet, Leo and Reyna were beside him. "You good, dude?" Leo asked, his eyes shooting toward Nico before returning to glare at Moros, eyeing the disc in the spirit's hands.

"More or less," Nico replied.

"Okay, 'cause we gotta go."

Nico frowned at Leo. "What?"

Leo turned to face him, his voice low. "I mean run. Lead Moros away from Festus. If that guy screws with him any more, I don't know if I'll get him fixed in time. Or at all." The seriousness in Leo's eyes told Nico he was genuinely worried, so Nico sighed shortly and stood up straight, wincing slightly.

"Alright," he said. "Let's go."

And with that, all three of them turned and bolted through the trees, ignoring Moros's shout of "Where ya goin'? We're just gettin' started!" Nico tried to keep track of Leo and Reyna as they ran, relying more on his senses than his eyes. They weaved through trees and around bushes, over dusty paths and up and down uneven hills. Nico saw Leo veer off to the side and he followed him, hoping Reyna noticed and did the same. After a minute or so, he shot a glance over his shoulder, wondering if Moros had come after them, but of course he couldn't see anything in the dark, and the only sounds were their own feet shuffling through leaves and snapping twigs and branches.

As Nico rounded a tree, Leo suddenly yelled "Whoa!" and skidded to a stop right in front of him, throwing his arms out to either side. Nico stumbled and collided with his back, nearly knocking him over, as Reyna pulled to a stop beside them so quickly she momentarily lost her balance and tipped forward. Leo reached out and snatched her by the shirt, yanking her backward. She twisted to the side and grabbed onto his arms, using them to steady herself, and Nico stepped around Leo to see why he'd stopped so suddenly. He understood at once. Even through the darkness, he could see the steep, rocky hill that dropped off less than two feet in front of them. A few more steps would have sent them tumbling headlong over the edge to the uneven ground fifty feet below.

Once they'd all regained their balance, each of them out of breath from running, Leo gave a nervous laugh. "That was close."

From behind, an amused voice added, "Not close enough," and the trio spun around to see that Moros had indeed followed them. The spirit grinned mischievously and Nico felt his stomach drop in dread, knowing what was about to happen even before Moros lifted a hand and snapped his fingers. Nico tried to take a step but suddenly the ground beneath him felt as slippery as ice, and instead of going forward his feet were swept out from under him and he, Leo, and Reyna slid backward over the crest of the hill, falling with surprised yells onto the steep, rocky incline. Nico tried to reach out and grab onto something as an anchor, but there was nothing to grab. The complete lack of control as he rolled sideways down the hill was maddening, and when the ground finally leveled out he realized he'd been holding his breath the entire time.

With a pained groan, Nico rolled onto his back and sat up, dull jabs of pain shooting through what felt like every inch of his body. The arm he'd injured fighting the wolves was scraped even worse, dirt rubbed into the thin, open cuts in his skin. He felt a sharp pain in his side—broken ribs, probably. Though, for all he knew, that could have happened when he'd been attacked by Festus's tail.

Nico blinked a few times and realized that most of the ache was already subsiding, which luckily meant nothing had been too serious. He climbed shakily to his feet and looked around for the others. Leo was lying on his side close by, so Nico stumbled toward him and said, "Leo, hey. You okay?" When he didn't move, Nico frowned and dropped to a crouch beside him, grabbing his shoulder and pushing him onto his back. He was alive and breathing, though unconscious, and looked okay except for a nasty cut on the side of his head that was trickling blood over his ear. "Aw, man…" Nico muttered under his breath, swallowing a jolt of worry.

A low groan behind Nico had him looking over his shoulder to see Reyna dragging herself into a sitting position, a hand on her head. "Hey," he called to her. "You alright?"

"I'm not dead," she responded wryly, rising to her feet and testing all her limbs. "That's something." She started to stretch her left arm and winced, a hand going to her shoulder. When she stepped over to Nico and Leo, she glanced down and a deep frown covered her dirty face, her eyebrows stitching together apprehensively. "Is he…?"

"He'll be fine," Nico assured her. "But he's not moving anytime soon. We should find Moros before—"

"You buzzed?" an all-too-familiar voice interrupted, and Nico twisted around to see the spirit of doom floating an inch above the ground at the base of the rocky hill he'd just thrown them down. Nico climbed to his feet, picking up his sword, and shot Moros a silent glare, fighting the immense urge to rush in and smack the cocky smirk from the guy's face. "You guys left early," the spirit went on lightly. "Rest of the guests hadn't even showed up yet." A snap of his fingers brought another small host of ghost-wolves into existence on either side of him, and Nico bit back an annoyed groan.

"They're not real," he reminded Reyna, sensing her tense beside him. "We can take 'em."

"Real?" Moros repeated. He studied Nico for a long second, twisting his left lip ring with his tongue, and a cruel grin spread across his face. "You want something real?" he asked, voice low. Then he snapped his fingers again, and unexpectedly the new wolves vanished. For a second or two, nothing else happened.

Somewhere between nervous and irritated, Nico took a step toward Moros. He opened his mouth to throw back a retort but froze as a sharp, searing pain cut through his stomach, killing his voice before it escaped his throat. He glanced down, suddenly afraid the spirit had thrown a knife at him or something, but he looked perfectly fine. He frowned, confused, until the pain spiked, spreading up his chest and tying his insides in tight knots. Crying out through gritted teeth, he staggered backward and doubled over, dropping his sword and wrapping both arms reflexively around his stomach.

"Nico," Reyna said in surprise, appearing beside him. But he could barely focus on her. It felt like tiny shards of rusted metal were crawling slowly up his esophagus, tearing everything in their path. He sank to his knees, then leaned over and coughed violently, vomiting mouthfuls of blood onto the dirt.

"What are you doing to him?" Reyna yelled at Moros, her angry voice dull in Nico's ears. "Stop it!"

"Nah," was Moros's half-hearted reply. "Kid wanted 'real'. Don't get much more 'real' than the last stage of the African Ebola virus." And then he laughed like he'd just made the best joke in the world, and Nico wanted nothing more than to tackle the spirit and punch his lights out. But he could barely breathe, let alone stand. It was like someone had lit a fire inside him and it was burning his organs to ashes. His entire body was shaking. He could feel his strength fading fast, his vision swimming with blinding, colored dots. He lifted his head, which felt like it weight at least six hundred pounds, and threw everything he had into a weak glare at the spirit of doom.

Moros's sneer was positively ecstatic. "You know what the best part is?" he said quietly. "When you can actually see death coming, and there ain't nothing you can do. It's that moment of panic, right before the end." His eyes seemed to glow with excitement as he asked mockingly, "You feel it yet, Nico?"

Hearing the spirit say his name felt like an insult and filled Nico with an intense wave of fury. He wanted to attack the guy—to scream at him, to make him pay _somehow_. But the virus wreaking slow and painful havoc in his body wouldn't let him. His throat had constricted so tightly he could no longer breathe, and he was starting to get lightheaded. The last bit of strength in his arms gave out and he fell to his side on the dirt, the world around him seeming hazy with fog and tinged with blackness. He thought he heard Reyna yell something, but the dull roar in his ears was too deafening to make it out. Even through all the pain, all Nico could feel was anger. He'd known this quest would be dangerous, but he'd at least counted on making it to Death Valley and confronting Nyx. That was supposed to be the hardest part. But here he was, dying of a fatal disease in Indiana, less than 700 miles from home. They hadn't even made it halfway.

And then, all of a sudden, it stopped. His vision cleared; he could breathe again. The pain in his chest and stomach was receding, dulling to a slow, almost ghostly ache. Blinking in mild surprise, Nico pushed himself up on his hands, wincing at the soreness in his limbs. His arms were still shaking, though not as badly as before. It was like everything he'd felt in the last two minutes was being gradually reversed, bringing him back to normal health.

"You alright?" a voice asked sharply, and Nico looked up as Reyna dropped to a crouch beside him.

"I think so," he replied, his voice so rough and gravelly it sounded completely alien. He sat back on the ground and rolled his shoulders experimentally. He still felt weak, but at least he no longer felt like he'd swallowed a vat of hot lava. That had to be a good sign. "What happened? How did you—?"

"He's like the animals," Reyna explained quickly, her eyes rising to search the shadows around them. "He solidifies when he uses magic. I got close enough to injure him and it stopped whatever he was doing to you."

"Clever," Moros's voice said coldly right before he flickered into existence a few yards away. The grin was gone from his face, his expression stony. "But what now? You can't beat doom. Doom always brings death."

Nico didn't like the look in the spirit's dead eyes. "When I tell you," he said to Reyna, his voice low and still sounding annoyingly weak, "grab onto me and don't let go." She frowned a bit, but nodded in understanding and shuffled just a bit closer to him. He shifted his position on the ground so he could reach the spot where Leo still lay unconscious, glowering at Moros all the while.

"You don't get it, do you?" Moros went on, seemingly oblivious. "I _own_ this forest. Nothing gets in without my knowing. And nothing gets out. Period." He took a step closer, boots floating above the uneven ground. "Sorry, dudes, but I—actually, you know, I'm not sorry." He grinned, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "This is gonna be fun."

"NOW!" Nico yelled, before stretching to the side and grabbing Leo's ankle with all the strength he had. The instant he felt Reyna's fingers close around his left arm, he shut his eyes and reached toward the shadows with his mind, picturing his destination as clearly as he could in his head and remembering the welcome sign Festus had crashed into when they'd arrived. He caught the very beginning of Moros's furious scream before all sound disappeared and they were yanked into a tearing whirlwind of blackness.

When the shadows thinned, they found themselves on a grassy hill beneath the open sky. Nico threw his arms out to keep from rolling more than a few feet, feeling the buzzing ache in his head spike to a constant throb. He gritted his teeth and clutched a hand to his head as a small wave of dizziness passed over him and quickly faded.

"You shouldn't have done that," Reyna said seriously, fixing Nico with a pointed look from where she sat on the grass. "You were already hurt."

"When are you guys gonna learn that I can handle more than you think I can?" Nico shot back, not angry with her so much as irritated by the situation and sick of his headache. "Just because I _look_ weak doesn't mean I _am_."

Reyna breathed out shortly, giving up the argument. Instead, she stood and looked around. "Where are we?"

"Outside the forest," Nico answered. He sat up straight and rested his arms on his knees, eyes going to the line of trees a half-mile or so in the distance. "A little farther than I aimed for, but I'll take it."

"How'd you know where to go?"

"The welcome sign. It said this section of the reserve was just under thirteen thousand acres."

Reyna raised her eyebrows, for a second looking mildly impressed. Then she trudged past Nico and knelt beside Leo, examining the cut above his ear. "You don't have any ambrosia, do you?"

Nico shook his head with a heavy sigh, thinking they could all use some god-food right about now. "Not on me. Everything's back with the dragon."

Reyna scowled in disappointment, brushing her fingers through Leo's hair. He groaned suddenly, his face contorting in a grimace, and Reyna jerked her hand away like she'd been burned. Leo shifted his arms without opening his eyes and started to sit up, but Nico said shortly, "Don't. I don't think you wanna move just yet."

He'd barely finished the sentence before Leo grunted in pain and dropped back to the ground, a hand going to his head. "Don't gotta tell me twice," he muttered hoarsely, and when he finally opened his eyes they looked a bit dull and cloudy. "What happened? Where's the rocker dude?"

"In the forest," Nico answered. He absently pulled a handful of grass from the dirt and started tearing the blades apart as a way to try and alleviate some of his frustration. "We're safe for now."

"Not for long, though," Reyna said gravely. She sat back behind Leo and her eyes surveyed him carefully. "We can't stay out here. We've got to get back to the dragon so we can get moving. There has to be a way through the forest that Moros can't see, a way to get by him somehow."

Leo gave a noncommittal grunt in response, and Nico didn't answer. He knew she was right; they would need to return somehow. But if what Moros said was true, he would know as soon as they reentered the forest. And chances were he wasn't lying. He had been in charge of overseeing one of the deeper and more dangerous sections of the Fields of Punishment. All of its overseers had boundary senses in case someone tried to escape or cross divisions. It made sense that if he set this region of the Hoosier National Forest as his new domain, the same principle would apply. It was frustrating, the more Nico thought about it. Moros wasn't a god; he was a spirit—the soul of a long-since-dead demigod who'd been given unnatural power after his life had ended. And yet here he was, toying with them like he was some—

Nico's train of thought screeched to a halt. Moros was a spirit, a soul. He didn't belong on earth. He belonged in the Underworld. That meant that maybe—just maybe—they could force him back.

"What's wrong?" Reyna asked in a sharp tone, frowning at the look on Nico's face.

"We can't escape him," he said, staring at the ground in front of him as his mind began to formulate a plan. "We need to lure him out."

"You're not serious," Leo argued. "That guy's a nutcase. Way too crazy and powerful to—"

"To fight, yeah. But we aren't gonna fight him." He glanced sideways at the others and explained, "We're gonna banish him back to the Underworld."

Reyna's eyebrows shot up. "How? With the god of death asleep, we haven't been able kill things very effectively. How could that possibly work?"

"Because Moros is already dead," Nico pointed out. "It's not the same. Thanatos' absence keeps new souls from crossing over unless they want to, but what I'm talking about would bypass that entirely. We're gonna open a direct route to the Underworld—send him straight back without the messy induction process."

The corner of Leo's mouth twitched upward. "Straight back, huh? As in 'Do not pass GO, do not collect two hundred dollars'."

Nico smirked. "Exactly."

Leo rested an arm over his eyes and reached the other hand into the air, giving a weak thumbs-up. "I'm in."

Reyna bit her bottom lip, looking apprehensive, but after a minute she sighed and conceded, "Alright, it's as good a plan as any. What do we need?"

"For starters," Nico answered, stretching his arms out and cracking his knuckles, "a graveyard."

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><p><strong>Sounds like fun, huh? How 'bout droppin' a review on your way out? Have a good weekend, everybody! Later days!<strong>

**-oMM**


	12. XII Nico

**Hi, gang! If you're wondering why I didn't put this up yesterday, I'm a little behind on my writing so I decided to start spacing out the updates to one per week for a bit. Motivation's been low lately and I've been too busy at work. I won't ever give up on this story, but I'm hitting a bit of a slow patch. Hopefully it doesn't last long.**

**Anyway, thanks as always to all of you who reviewed last week! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XII<br>NICO**

According to the map Nico had picked up by shadow-traveling to the nearest city, there were a total of ten cemeteries in the Deam Wilderness, the closest of which was only a mile from where he, Leo, and Reyna had appeared after escaping the forest. They had to hope that once they re-entered the Wilderness, Moros wouldn't catch up to them until they were ready for him. Probably a vain hope, admittedly.

"So why a graveyard?" Reyna asked as the trio made their way at a fast walk through the dark forest.

"There's a lot of spirit energy in graveyards," Nico answered, climbing over a particularly large log. "It's much easier to bridge a path between our world and the Underworld. The two planes are… closer, more connected in places relating to death."

"No wonder cemeteries always give me the creeps," Leo muttered with a shiver. "They make me feel like I've got one foot in the grave. Guess it's actually true."

"Basically."

Nico reached sideways to snatch Leo by the arm as he stumbled and almost fell, having had to do so over a dozen times already since they'd reentered the forest. It was good Leo was on his feet, but the knock on the head must have triggered a minor concussion, because he was still dizzy and a little out of it. Even so, he'd insisted on coming along to help, and since Nico didn't have time for Leo's 'everything-is-dandy-don't-worry-about-me' act, he hadn't argued. But now he was starting to rethink that decision.

"Look, are you sure you're gonna be able to do this?" he asked with a frown once Leo had steadied himself. "You realize how easy it'll be for Moros to get the jump on you like this, right?"

"Isn't that the point? I'll be fine. I just gotta get him to that cemetery you showed us on the map, right?"

"Yeah," Nico agreed. "But what good's it gonna do if you can't run and he snags you before you even get there?"

"That won't happen," Leo insisted off-handedly. He grinned, though Nico noticed him blink hard as though he were trying not to see double. On top of that, the minute he turned forward and took a few steps, he proceeded to trip over something on the uneven ground and stagger sideways into Reyna. She grabbed his arms to steady him, his hands latching onto her shoulders, but as soon as he was upright again she quickly let go and took a few steps backward.

With an odd, unreadable glance at Leo, Reyna said shortly, "I'm… gonna go scout ahead," and walked briskly off into the trees.

"What was that about?" Nico asked once she'd disappeared.

Leo gave a short, frustrated sigh as they started walking after her. "I told you she hates me."

"I don't know. When you were knocked out earlier, she seemed pretty worried."

"Really?" Leo asked, raising his eyebrows.

Nico shrugged in response. "Looked that way. You remember what I said about being a team, right? If you guys have stuff to work out, you should probably get to it."

Leo was quiet for a minute, his jaw flexing back and forth and his eyebrows knitting together. He looked like he was thinking hard about something, trying to puzzle something out. Then his shoulders seemed to sag and he sighed. He started to say, "We—" but broke off immediately as a surprised shout cut in from somewhere ahead of them. A surprised shout that sounded a lot like Reyna.

"Uh-oh," Nico muttered, before both boys broke into a run.

They didn't have to go far. After only a few yards, Leo yelled "Ow!" and skidded to a halt as something fell against the top of his head. Nico stopped a few steps ahead of him and spun around as Leo grimaced and picked up the object that had hit him—and Nico was surprised to realize it was Reyna's knife. It must have fallen hilt-first, because if Leo's luck had been just a little worse a concussion would've been the least of his problems. He seemed to realize this as well, because his face seemed to pale a bit before he craned his neck backward and looked up. "Reyna?" he called with a yelp of surprise.

High above them in the shadows, Nico could just barely make out Reyna's form, which looked to be hanging by the ankle from a rope or a vine attached to a thick tree branch. She was struggling to free herself, but she must not have been getting anywhere, because a second later Nico heard her sigh and grumble, "I am getting _so_ tired of this forest."

"Nice of you to hang around," an amused voice cut in, and Nico turned to see that Moros had materialized right beside him. He scrambled backward in alarm, but the spirit took no notice and continued to grin up at Reyna. "I thought I might'a scared you guys off."

Nico shot a meaningful look at Leo, telling him they might as well get the plan under way. Leo seemed to get the message, because he folded his arms and rolled his eyes dramatically. "Us? Scared?" he scoffed. "You're gonna have to try harder than that. Unless you were hoping that look of yours was enough to send us running, 'cause in that case you might be onto something." Moros' gaze dropped to Leo and he arched an eyebrow, and Leo went on, "Seriously, could you turn around or something? I think I'm starting to feel sick."

Moros narrowed his eyes. "You know, bro, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were tryin' to rile me up."

"If I were trying to rile you up, you'd know it," Leo replied. He walked toward Moros and Nico took the opportunity to take a few slow steps backward while the spirit's attention was elsewhere. "So are you really a ghost, or do you just play one on TV? Like, if I try to touch you, will I go right through you?" To demonstrate, Leo stuck a hand out and waved it through Moros' chest, passing through the spirit like he wasn't there.

Moros cringed and stepped back, feet floating above the ground. "Harsh, man," he said, wagging a finger. "How would you like it if I went stickin' my hand inside you? Maybe I should give it a try." He reached toward Leo, who leapt sideways out of the way.

"Whoa, sorry," Leo insisted, holding up his hands. "I just wasn't sure you were real. I mean, when I first saw you, I thought you were a joke. Who dresses like that, seriously? What, were you some kind of groupie before you died? Or just one of those posers that mimics celebrities?"

Moros chuckled, but the laugh was so dry that it was obvious he wasn't amused in the slightest. "That's cute, bro, but—"

"_That's_ it—Nyx," Leo interrupted, snapping his fingers. When Moros frowned, he went on, "Sorry. That weird-looking face and hair of yours seemed familiar and I've been trying to remember who you reminded me of. I got it, though. You're a dead ringer for your mother. Tough break, man." He shook his head in mock sympathy.

Moros' smirk vanished immediately. "What did you say?" he asked, voice suddenly low and threatening.

Leo shrugged. "Nyx. Never met her personally, but I've seen her. Not much of a 'goddess', I gotta say—she's even uglier and less impressive than you." Nico cringed, wondering how smart it was to insult the Queen of Night and hoping she didn't happen to be listening in from wherever she was. The words got the desired effect, though, if the expression on Moros' face was any indication.

"My mother is the most powerful and beautiful goddess of them _all_," the spirit said scathingly, a snarl contorting his ghostly features. "Those other gods could _never_ stand up to her. And how dare _you_ say otherwise? If I called her here, she'd destroy you before that mouth of yours took another breath. A _child_ like you isn't even worthy to say her name!"

"Child, huh?" Leo repeated. He looked sideways at Moros and smirked, saying, "I'm not the one threatening to cry for his mommy."

That seemed to do it. Moros screamed angrily and charged at Leo, both ethereal arms outstretched. Leo dodged to the side and laughed, before turning and bolting off into the trees. With a furious yell of "We'll see who's crying when I'm done with you!" Moros sped after him.

The instant they were out of sight, Nico turned and looked up at Reyna as she asked dryly, "How about getting me down from here?" He stepped back against the nearest tree and a quick shadow-travel-jump later, Reyna was safe on the ground again. She picked up her knife from where it had fallen and said firmly, "Let's go." And together they headed off after the others.

They shouldn't have been far from the cemetery, if Nico had pictured the map correctly in his head. As long as Leo was able to evade Moros long enough to get him in position, they were in the clear.

After a minute or so, they found it. The trees thinned and ended in a jagged line surrounding a small collection of scattered headstones. Some looked relatively new and well-taken-care-of, but others were worn and broken, probably centuries old. Nico could feel a cold surge of power as he and Reyna crouched just inside the line of trees, eyes peering through the darkness to where Leo and Moros stood facing each other amid the assortment of graves.

"Now?" Reyna asked, grip tightening on her dagger.

"Not yet," Nico replied with a shake of his head. "I have to meditate first—establish a connection to the Underworld. Shouldn't take long, but he can't see me until I'm done. We can't draw his attention." Reyna clucked her tongue and scowled, but she followed his instructions and remained still and silent, her eyes trained forward on the spirit of doom.

As Nico sat down on the ground and crossed his legs, resting his hands on his knees, he shot a glance through the darkness to make sure time was still on their side. Moros hadn't summoned any ghost-hounds, which was a good sign, but judging by the look on his face he was heading in that direction. He was saying something about how his power was only a fraction of Nyx's and he still wouldn't need her help to finish off a few weakling demigods and was glaring at Leo, who was inching slowly back away from him and guiding him to the very center of the graveyard—just like Nico had told him to.

Taking a deep breath, Nico closed his eyes and let the darkness around him thicken. He slowed his breathing so it was barely more than a tiny tickle of air movement, reaching with his mind for the world of the dead that lay beneath him. As he did so, the sounds around him seemed to become sharper—he could hear leaves rustling and insects buzzing. He could even hear Reyna's steady breathing beside him, feel the beating of her heart. He was instantly aware of every living thing within a mile radius of the cemetery—and every dead thing buried beneath it.

"It's a good thing we're in a graveyard, kid," Moros' voice said bitingly, and Nico spared a fraction of his concentration to listen just in case things got ugly. "'Cause I'm about to bury you."

"I'd like to see you try," Leo replied lightly. "Actually, strike that. I'd like to see you fail." Moros growled in anger and Nico heard his fingers snap. A vicious snarl, an intake of breath from Reyna, a surge of fire, a howl. Then Leo laughed, and Nico knew everything was alright.

"Now I see why your doom-aura is out'a control," Moros said. "You got a death wish, don't you? Fine. I don't make a habit of grantin' wishes, but I'll make an exception for you, bro. Let's take that head injury of yours a step further." Another snap of the spirit's fingers, and this time Leo suddenly screamed in pain. Beside Nico, Reyna tensed and started to rise, and he could feel her heartbeat picking up speed.

Nico reached out and grabbed Reyna's sleeve. "Wait," he said, eyes remaining closed.

"He'll kill him!" she shot back in a harsh whisper. Nico frowned and opened his eyes in time to see Leo stagger to one knee, both hands tightly gripping the sides of his head as Moros watched with a smug expression. He looked over at Reyna to see her staring at him with intense, almost angry eyes. Realizing that she had a point, he let go of her without a word. Immediately she sprang to her feet and rushed out into the clearing.

Moros didn't notice her at first, and Nico decided to take advantage of the distraction as best he could and shut his eyes again. He only needed a few more seconds before it could start.

When Moros yelled in anger and surprise, Nico knew Reyna must have successfully attacked him as he used magic, just like she did before. "You!" the spirit snarled at her. "Here to save your boyfriend? Or would you rather die with him?"

Time was up. Nico opened his eyes, feeling the shadows cling to him, and stood up, fixing his gaze on Moros. He opened his mouth and started muttering under his breath—an ancient Greek spell to banish an escaped soul back to the Underworld where it belonged. He hoped Moros hadn't realized yet what was happening and—more importantly—wasn't strong enough to resist it.

Then, just as the spirit turned toward Reyna with the obvious intention of attacking her, he seemed to freeze in place, his arm outstretched. "What the—?" he muttered, eyes dropping to the uneven ground as smoking, shadowy chains suddenly sprang out from the dirt and wrapped themselves around his wrists, ankles, and neck. "Hey! What is this? Stop it!"

Still reciting the spell in a low whisper, Nico stepped out into the cemetery and Moros' eyes snapped onto him. "_You_," he growled. He lunged toward Nico, but the black chains held him back as they began to sink below the ground, pulling the spirit with them. "You can't do this! Mother will set me free again! Then she'll destroy you! All of you!"

Spell finished, Nico folded his arms. "Nyx doesn't control the dead," he said coldly. "I do."

"NO!" Moros screamed. He pulled and fought against his binds, but to no avail. The smoking chains continued to drag him slowly but surely beneath the earth, back to the land of the dead. "You can't doom me! I _am_ doom! Stop this _now_!"

Nico's memory flashed back to an hour or so ago, when the spirit had almost killed him with a fatal disease. A sense of morbid satisfaction spread through him and he stepped forward, coming to rest just out of Moros' reach. "You know that moment of panic, right before the end?" he echoed the spirit's words with a smirk. "You feel it yet?"

Moros' eyes widened with fury—and possibly a touch of fear. He screamed in frustration and thrashed his arms uselessly before he was finally pulled into the shadowy ground and silence fell over the graveyard.

As the spell finished and the otherworldly connection broke, Nico felt his energy drain out of him like a dam had been opened. Suddenly weak and tired, he sank to his knees, his eyelids drooping with exhaustion. He'd never actually _used_ that particular banishing spell before, though he'd known in theory how it would work. And it wasn't something he was too keen on doing again in the near future.

"So… he's gone?" Reyna's voice asked. Nico looked up to see her watching him with a slightly nervous expression, like she was afraid he'd decide to go ahead and send her to the Underworld while he was at it. He wasn't exactly surprised, or offended, for that matter. It can't have been the most comfortable thing to watch.

"Yeah," he responded, his voice winded and breathy. "He won't be bothering us again anytime soon."

"Awesome," Leo said in a slightly slurred voice, and Nico turned to see him stumbling unsteadily to his feet. His balance was still off-kilter, though, and he staggered sideways against a tombstone, a hand on his head and a grimace on his face. "We should, uh… find… wait, how did we get here again?"

"The dragon…?" Reyna supplied uncertainly, eyebrows drawing together.

"Dragon, right, yeah," Leo agreed with a frown. "Let's go find it." He blinked hazily and squinted at Nico and Reyna, pointing a finger at the empty yards of air between them. "You four split up and look. I'll… wait here and…" They never found what Leo planned to do, however, because mid-sentence he promptly collapsed onto the ground and passed out.

Reyna looked at Nico and raised an eyebrow. "Four?" she repeated.

Nico sighed heavily, dragging himself to his feet. "Let's just get him some ambrosia so we can get out of here. I don't think he's fixing anything like that."

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><p><strong>Nico: "You know that moment of panic, right before the end? You feel it yet?"<strong>

**My brain: "BUUUUUURN!"**

**Hahaha XD So anyway, next update probably won't be until sometime next week, unless my schedule suddenly frees up and the block in my mind drops. Leave me a review in the meantime? Later days!**

**-oMM**


	13. XIII Percy

**Hey, gang. My progress with this hasn't overcome its stand-still so I've got to continue on the slow updates. Hopefully things pick up soon, or I'm gonna run out of backlog.**

**Anyway, thanks to everybody who reviewed last week! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XIII<br>PERCY**

The gun pointed at his face almost gave Percy a heart attack.

There he was, walking down the hall and minding his own business, when all of a sudden his path was barred by the double barrel of a shotgun. Thankfully, though, it was never fired, because as soon as its owner saw him she gasped and cried "Percy!" before lowering the weapon and wrapping him in a bone-crushing hug.

Still a little stunned, he answered her, "Hey, Mom."

Sally Jackson stepped back and smiled at her son as her husband appeared from the living room doorway and said, "Why didn't you tell us you were stopping by? Might've avoided the awkward gunpoint situation."

"Sorry," Percy said with a slightly sheepish smile. "You know—no phones, and all. I guess it's good to see you guys are defending yourselves, at least."

Sally's eyebrows rose a fraction of an inch. "You didn't get _all_ that skill from your father, you know. I can take care of myself, too."

"She's been taking care of me, while she's at it," Paul put in a bit ruefully, and when Sally lifted a shoulder Percy couldn't help but laugh. The situation in New York was dangerous, but it was comforting to know that his mom and step-dad were being careful. When the war had started, part of him had wanted to stay with them and keep them safe. But if he had, the reality was that that would likely only place them in more danger. And besides, his place was at Camp Half-Blood—at least until Erebos and Nyx were defeated.

"Anyway," Sally said after a brief minute, "I'm sure you didn't come over to stand in the hallway. Come inside, I'll make you something to eat."

Despite Percy's insistence that he wasn't hungry, he somehow found himself seated at the kitchen table ten minutes later with a turkey and cheese sandwich and a plate piled high with blue chocolate-chip cookies (according to Paul, Sally had developed a habit of stress-baking; every time something came on the news about an attack nearby or when she had a feeling that something was wrong, she would distract herself by baking; evidence of this sat all around the kitchen in the forms of muffins, breads, brownies, and various other sweets). He took a bite of the sandwich and glanced around the room. He'd started staying at Camp Half-Blood at the start of the war and had visited his parents' apartment twice since then, but for some reason it felt like he'd been away for years. Maybe that was the thing about wars—they made time stretch on longer than it should.

"So what's this about, Percy?" Sally asked after a minute, dropping into the chair across from her son and fixing him with a concerned frown.

"What's what about? I can't just stop by for a visit?"

She gave him a wry smile. "I raised you, remember? I can tell when you have something you want to say."

Percy swallowed his mouthful of food and frowned at the table, his throat feeling tight. He shot a glance at Paul, who was leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms folded, and said slowly, "I heard from Dad."

Sally's eyes widened. "You did? Is he going to help you?"

"Not exactly," Percy admitted, before repeating to them his father's news and instructions. He told them about Hypnos and the gods' entrapment, and about the quest three of their campers had been sent on earlier that evening to find and free the god of sleep. He tried not to sound too worried about it, but judging by the looks on his mom and stepdad's faces, he hadn't exactly succeeded.

"Wasn't Nyx the goddess you and your friends fought last month?" Paul asked with a frown, and Percy nodded in affirmation. "Is it really safe to only send three people after her?"

"Any more would draw too much attention," Percy answered a bit reluctantly. "The whole thing's scrapped if they can't even make it to Death Valley. We just… have to trust that they will." He noticed that he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than his stepdad, and maybe he was. He'd been finding it increasingly difficult to stay positive lately, almost like a piece of the sky's darkness had rooted itself inside him and was refusing to let go. He saw the sense in a traditional three-person quest team, but that didn't do much to alleviate the frightening fact that Nico, Leo, and Reyna were going against Nyx herself. They would need more than stealth in order to rescue Hypnos from her power.

Percy had wanted to volunteer for the quest before Reyna had stepped in, but Annabeth had held him back. He understood why. Erebos was watching him; the dream visit he'd had from the King of Darkness had erased any doubt of that. He needed to keep Erebos' attention focused there in New York, otherwise the quest team would never make it to Death Valley. If he'd gone, chances were they never would've escaped notice. But just because he understood the reason didn't mean he was happy about being left behind. This was his father's request, after all. He felt some measure of responsibility for it. The fact that he couldn't help tore at his nerves like a biting hunger he couldn't satisfy.

Percy shook his head, focusing on the situation at hand. "But… if they do free Hypnos," he went on haltingly, getting to the main point he'd been planning to make, "and he frees the rest of them, this city's gonna turn into a frontline battlefield. And not just between us and monsters—it'll be a battle between gods. It's gonna get messy. And I… I don't want you guys here when that happens."

"Percy," Sally said in the sturdy voice only a mother could ever master, "how many times do we have to tell you? We're not going anywhere."

"This city is our home, too," Paul added, coming to stand behind his wife. "We'll protect it, just like you and your friends. Even if we can't be out there in the thick of it all."

"And _you're_ here." Sally smiled, explaining, "We would never leave you, especially not in the middle of a war." She reached across the table and clasped one of Percy's hands in both of hers. "Even if the only way we can help is by being nearby, it's enough. You'll need every bit of light possible in order to fight this darkness. Abandoning you and taking that away is something we won't ever do."

He was about to argue that it wouldn't be abandonment if he wanted them to leave, but the look on his mother's face and the firmness of her voice made him stop. There was nothing he could say to change her mind. And maybe, deep down, he didn't want to try that hard. She was right—they _would_ need every bit of light to wipe out the growing darkness. Just having his family nearby gave him something else to fight for, which in turn gave him strength. The more support he and the others had, the easier it would be for them to fight Erebos' darkness.

"Alright, alright. Thanks, guys," he said to them with a small, weak sort of smile. "Just… promise me you'll at least stay indoors, okay? And if you run into trouble, find a way to call me."

"Deal," Sally promised as Paul nodded in agreement. "Just remember not to worry too much about us. You've got your hands full as it is."

"You can say that again," Percy muttered, taking another bite of his sandwich. He still wasn't hungry, but he stuck around long enough to finish it and even force down a few of his mom's cookies. It felt good to spend time with his family—relaxing, even, like he could almost forget there was a war going on outside the apartment building. If he'd had the choice, he wouldn't have left at all. But that time eventually came, and with a pocketful of blue chocolate-chip cookies, he was forced to bid his mom and stepdad goodbye and leave them alone.

He'd barely stepped outside when a voice yelled in his head, _Yo, boss! We gotta move!_

Percy winced at the volume and spun around to glare at the jittery black pegasus that had brought him to Manhattan from Long Island. "If this is about that bird you've been chasing since we left, I don't want to—"

_Noooo,_ Blackjack argued, shaking his head and braying loudly. He kicked the pavement and said, _Message from the crew. Trouble outside camp! It's a monster montage, boss—they need our help!_

"What?" Percy demanded at once. "Why didn't you call me sooner?"

_I would'a, boss, but you said not to bug you._

"I said not to bug me _unless it's important_."

_Oh. Yeah, wasn't listening to that part. The bird was taunting me, I swear. I'll get that little runt if it's the last thing I—_

"Argh, whatever!" Percy interrupted the horse, climbing onto his back and twisting his hands in his mane. "Just go already!"

_You got it, boss! We're off to save the day!_

Percy rolled his eyes in frustration as Blackjack spread his wings and kicked off from the ground, gliding into the air with impressive speed. The horse was definitely trustworthy and loyal to a fault, but his concentration left more than a little bit to be desired. Still, pegasus was the fasted method of travel that they had easy access to—if only the horse's head worked as quickly as his wings did.

They made it across Long Island in just under half an hour, which meant Blackjack must have _really_ been booking it. He seemed tired when they landed—enough so that no remarks about 'the heroes arriving' were forthcoming—so Percy let his irritation slide and thanked the horse before taking in the situation.

Blackjack had touched down about a mile from Camp Half-Blood—in the middle of what he had aptly described as 'a monster montage'. A pack of hellhounds, a few Scythian dracaenae, a handful of strange, lizard-like creatures the size of tigers, a swarm of giant spiders (Percy briefly hoped none of the Athena kids were in the area), and even a pair of Cyclopes were all barreling around in a chaotic formation, battling the group of Greek and Roman defenders that had come to help out. It was like Monsters 'R Us was having a going-out-of-business sale, and Erebos had bought up the entire stock and set it loose on Long Island.

"Wait here, Blackjack," Percy ordered the pegasus. "If I need help, I'll call you."

_Sure thing, boss,_ he replied, sounding winded. _Wonder if I can find that bird…_

Percy ignored the horse and pulled his sword from his pocket, uncapping it so it extended to full length. He ran for the nearest monster—one of the spiders—and slashed it from behind before it even knew he was there. A second one came to take its place, and after slicing its front legs at the joints and dropping it to the ground he stabbed it between two of its eight yellow eyes, turning it to dust.

Monster attacks like this one were hardly uncommon nowadays, what with Erebos and Nyx's apparent control over all creatures of the night and darkness. Their army—if you could call it an army—was made up almost entirely of such beasts, many of which had a habit of running rampant in the streets at all hours of the day. Hardly anyone stepped foot outside their homes anymore unless absolutely necessary. Still, no matter how many battles you faced on a daily basis, that didn't make them any less urgent and dangerous.

After sending a pair of wounded Roman soldiers back to camp, Percy turned back to the street in time to be tackled by a dark, scaly shape. As claws poked him hard in the chest and shoved him to his back on the ground, he recognized it as one of the oversized lizard creatures. It looked like a komodo dragon, only bigger and uglier, with a crown-like crest on the top of its head and four long, snake-like fangs protruding from its mouth. He tried to shove it off as it hissed angrily at him, forked tongue whipping back and forth, but for some reason looking into its beady, violet eyes seemed to freeze him in place. It opened its jaws to snap at him, but before it got the chance a dull _thunk_ sounded and the fletching of an arrow appeared in the side of its neck. It fell limp and disintegrated to dark green sand.

Percy gagged and spit out a mouthful of monster dust, pushing himself up on his elbows as a hand appeared in front of him. He took it and allowed the person to pull him to his feet, recognizing his rescuer as a sixteen-year-old camper from the Apollo cabin.

"Thanks, Austin," he said, brushing green sand from his clothes.

"No problem, Percy," Austin replied. "I don't know where these basilisks came from, but they've already incapacitated half a dozen of us. We'd better drop the rest of 'em before—get down!" Eyes shifting to something over Percy's shoulder, Austin quickly yanked an arrow from the quiver on his back and nocked it, pulling back on his bowstring. Percy followed his instructions and ducked as he loosed the arrow, and the resulting sharp hiss told him the arrow had taken out another lizard monster.

Austin was already nocking another arrow as Percy spun around to see a second lizard—a basilisk, Austin had called it—slinking toward them with surprising speed. He darted forward to meet it and turned to the side to evade its pointed teeth, then swung Riptide instinctively and sliced through the scales on the monster's left side. It made a noise somewhere between a growl and a hiss and as it turned toward Percy he buried the blade of his bronze sword in its neck.

A surprised shout made him spin around in time to see another basilisk jump Austin from behind, driving him to the ground. His bow flew from his hands and skittered across the pavement. The monster snapped its fangs at him, but he yanked an arrow from his quiver and reached over his shoulder, stabbing his attacker in the eye. It snarled and swung its head before dissolving to dust.

"I thought basilisks could kill just by looking at you," Percy said as he helped Austin back to his feet.

"Common misconception," Austin replied, rolling his shoulder and grimacing. "If you look in their eyes, they can paralyze you, but they can't kill just by sight. That's what the fangs are for." He gritted his teeth and blinked a few times, and Percy suddenly noticed that something was wrong. His voice strangely winded, Austin added, "They're… poisonous." Then his knees buckled and he stumbled.

"Austin!" Percy said as he lunged forward and caught him, lowering him carefully to the ground. As he did so, he noticed the shallow cut on the back of his left shoulder—which must have been dug by the basilisk's snake-like teeth. "Uh-oh…" he muttered; Austin was already losing consciousness. He had to get back to camp fast. "Austin. Hey, Austin! Aw, Styx…"

Percy raised his head and called out with his mind, _Blackjack! Where are you? I need your help!_

After a few long seconds, the pegasus answered back, _Just a sec, boss! I found the bird! Oh, that little runt isn't getting away this time._

_Are you kidding me? Forget that thing! Get over here now!_

_I almost got it, I swear! I just need a few—_

_Blackjack!_

_Okay, okay. You're the boss. I'm on my way._

Luckily, the horse was fast. In a few minutes time, Percy had slung Austin over Blackjack's back with instructions to head straight for the camp infirmary. The wound wasn't serious, so as long as the poison could be counteracted he would be fine. That is, assuming Blackjack didn't drop him on the way back to camp.

The instant the pegasus had taken off, a voice behind Percy called his name and he turned to see Grover running toward him, reed pipes in hand and a frantic look in his eyes.

"You haven't seen Gleeson, have you?" Grover asked, sounding out of breath. He bent over and rested his hands on his knees.

"Coach Hedge?" Percy replied with a frown. "No, why?"

Grover clucked his tongue, straightening and shooting a glance over his shoulder. "There's a new kid in danger not far from here. He and I were supposed to be going after her, but as soon as we got here he ran off to join the fight. It was like he completely forgot I was there."

"Sounds like him," Percy said wryly. "I'll help you look." Grover nodded and ran off, and Percy headed in the opposite direction. He couldn't see much through the darkness, but it looked like the street and sidewalk were littered with different amounts and variations of monster dust. He didn't see any injured campers, which was a good sign. Hopefully everyone who wasn't still fighting had made it back to camp.

Percy turned a street corner and was met with the sight of a few kids fighting three hellhounds. He jumped in and helped them finish off two of them before he heard a voice farther down the road shout, "Take THAT, you overgrown poodle! Nobody's eating any kids on my watch! HA!"

_Found him_, Percy thought, trying not to roll his eyes as he finally caught a glimpse of Coach Hedge, who had apparently just kicked the third hellhound in the nose. It whimpered and cowered away from the five-foot satyr, obviously forgetting that it was four times his size, before a home-run-hitter from Hedge's baseball bat turned the hound to dust.

"Coach!" Percy called to him, running forward now that the coast was clear.

Hedge whipped around, hollered "DIE, UNDERWORLD SCUM!" and whacked Percy on the head with his bat before he could slow to a stop. He staggered to the ground with an alarmed yell as the satyr said, "Oh. Jackson. Didn't see you there."

"Yeah, I noticed," Percy grumbled irritably, blinking black and white dots from his vision as he struggled to his feet. "Grover's looking for you—got a job nearby."

"Lord of the Wild? I'm on my way!" Hedge said at once, as though he hadn't abandoned Grover a little while ago. Then he frowned and tilted his head to the side, saying, "Your head's bleeding, kid. You should be more careful."

Percy gaped at the satyr. "You just—" he started incredulously, but Hedge was already running off down the street. "Wait—Coach!" Percy shouted. When Hedge turned back to face him, he pointed over his shoulder and said dryly, "That way."

"Right you are, Jackson!" Hedge said gruffly, slinging his bat over his shoulder and switching direction. "I was testing you. Good news—you passed! Now get back to camp where you belong! It's dangerous out here."

Percy shook his head as the satyr jogged past him and disappeared around the corner, feeling unexpectedly angry. He pushed the irritation back, blaming the baseball-bat headache, and was about to follow Hedge's advice and return to camp when suddenly someone behind him gave a strangled yell as another voice frantically shouted "No!"

Percy whirled around and his eyes landed on the Stoll brothers, one of whom was on the ground with a huge, ugly creature hovering over him. It had the head of lion, the body of a mountain goat, and a hissing snake for a tail. Percy's eyes widened at the sight of it. He'd only ever seen something like it once before, on his very first quest for Camp Half-Blood, but it wasn't the sort of creature you were likely to forget. A chimera.

"Aw, great," he muttered ruefully, before tightening his grip on his sword and charging into the fight.

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><p><strong>Fun stuff, as usual! Haha. Drop me a review on your way out the door! Later days, gang!<strong>

**-oMM**


	14. XIV Percy

**Hi gang! It's been a bit, I know. I just don't want to catch up to the end of my backlog just yet. This is a rather eventful chapter though, so I figured it would hopefully be worth the wait.**

**Thanks bunches to everybody who reviewed last chapter! Enjoy some more action and drama!**

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><p><strong>XIV<br>PERCY**

Chimeras weren't exactly high on Percy's 'Favorite Monster Hits' playlist. His last encounter with one had ended in his diving from the top of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis while simultaneously on fire and dying of poisonous snake venom. If it hadn't been for his father's blessing, he would've been dead halfway through his first ever quest. Not exactly a happy memory he liked to revisit.

This chimera looked almost identical to the first, though it was missing the oversized dog collar Echidna had fitted to its brother. Just looking at it brought a rush of flashbacks—memories of the scared, twelve-year-old boy who'd just discovered he was half-Greek-god and been forced on a dangerous journey to recover his immortal uncle's lost lightning bolt. It felt like a lifetime ago, and when Percy blinked and shook himself out of the memory it suddenly seemed like it wasn't his—like he was thinking back on the life of someone else entirely. Had things really changed that much since then?

Pushing that uncomfortable thought aside, he gritted his teeth and rushed toward the chimera, which was still standing over Travis Stoll. It opened its mouth and smoke rolled from its jaws, signaling that it was preparing to breathe a cloud of fire. With a groan, Percy muttered, "I know I'm gonna regret this," before letting out a loud yell and charging the beast from the side. He rammed his shoulder into its coarse mane and tackled it, knocking it sideways away from Travis and onto the pavement. Its head whipped around and it shot a column of flames into the sky, and Percy ducked instinctively as he and the monster rolled over one another. When he hit the ground beside it, he noticed the burning heat hadn't altogether faded and realized some of the fire had clung to his jacket sleeve, which was now covered in bright orange flames. With a yelp, he tore the jacket off and threw it on the ground, stamping the fire out.

By then, Connor had run to his brother's side and the chimera had turned its full attention to the arrival of a new challenger, who was both relieved and slightly terrified of the fact. Percy stared into the monster's eyes, backing slowly away from it as his heart started pounding and rushing adrenaline threatened to burst his veins. His eyes darted to the snake-tail, which thrashed around and bared its poisonous teeth. Last time, he hadn't paid the tail enough attention, and it had successfully bitten and disarmed him. This time, he would be sure not to let that happen again.

When the chimera pounced, he was ready. He dove to the side and rolled, coming up in a crouch before spinning around and slicing out with Riptide, deflecting the fangs of the diamondback. The monster stood on its goat hooves and swung its head, visible waves of heat emanating from its glowing mouth, before a blaze of fire streamed from between its teeth. Percy dropped to the ground and lay flat on his stomach, throwing his hands over his head as the flames swept through the air above him, the heat singing the hair on his arms. When the fire vanished, he heard an angry roar and rolled to the side just as the chimera's hooves landed right where he'd been lying.

Percy scrambled to his feet and sidestepped another striking bite from the serpent-tail, swinging Riptide in a downward arc as he did so and throwing all his strength behind the blow. The bronze blade passed straight through the snake with a sickening _shlump_, severing its head clean off. The body swung like a whip as the head hissed and dropped to the asphalt, thrashing for a few seconds like a fish out of water before disintegrating to dust.

The lion head of the chimera loosed a vicious roar and Percy looked up just in time to be kicked in the chest by the monster's two back hooves. The force lifted him off his feet and sent him flying through the air as the wind was knocked from his lungs. His back slammed into the side of an abandoned car a few yards away and he slid to the ground, rolling onto his hands and knees with a groan.

Gasping as he tried to catch his breath and wincing at the bruises forming on his chest, Percy struggled to his feet, leaning against the car for help. His sword was no longer in his hand, and a quick survey of the street around him didn't reveal its whereabouts. It would come back to him eventually, but the chimera didn't look to be in a patient mood. It was glaring at him with its teeth bared, smoke pouring from its mouth and hooves beating the asphalt. Evidently it had rather liked its snake-tail and was displeased with Percy for beheading it.

He needed a plan. Going against a monster like the chimera without a weapon would undoubtedly be filed in the dictionary under 'suicide', and while Percy wasn't afraid of a challenge he also didn't have a death wish. Looking around frantically, his gaze landed on a manhole a few feet to his right and he got an idea. Eyeing the chimera to make sure it didn't leap at him, he edged toward the manhole and dropped to a crouch, resting a hand against the pavement and hoping for a stroke of luck. Sure enough, he could feel a shallow stream of water below him—sewer water, but it would have to do. A weapon was a weapon, after all, no matter how unpleasant.

Percy stood slowly, eyes trained on the monster and a hand resting in the air above the manhole. The chimera was glaring at him, lips curled in a snarl, crouching low and stepping slowly to the side as though stalking prey. He pulled his hand upward, feeling resistance as the sewer water began to rise underneath the street, and the instant the chimera lunged he braced one hand against the car and formed a fist with the other, thrusting it forward with a loud yell. The metal cover sprang from the manhole as gallons of dirty water rushed out at once, forming a geyser that bent midair and hurtled straight for the monster. Already mid-leap, the chimera was helpless to defend itself, and the stream slammed into it with all the force of a speeding subway car. It roared in anger as it was thrown onto the pavement, and when Percy lowered his arm and the geyser dropped, the chimera was gone.

He leaned back against the car and breathed heavily, the effort of calling so much water from that distance having drained him. Not to mention the fact that his head still ached from where Hedge had mistaken him for a monster. Looking around, he saw the Stoll brothers in the middle of the street a few yards from where he stood, Travis still lying on the ground and Connor crouching over him. Rolling his shoulders and grimacing at the dull pain in his chest, Percy pushed off of the car and strode toward them, shoes sloshing through the discolored city sewer water pooling across the asphalt.

"Thanks, Percy," Connor said to him, looking up as he approached and dropped to one knee. "Man, I thought we were dead meat for sure. Remind me not to go after any horrific monsters again without our resident superhero for backup." He laughed weakly, sounding as though the humor was obviously forced. The look in his eyes was desperate.

"Is he okay?" Percy asked, glancing down at Travis. The older Stoll brother was conscious, but by the look of it, barely. His shoulder and the right side of his chest were covered in blood, his shirt and jacket torn by ugly-looking slash marks. His eyes were squeezed shut, his expression twitching between sharp pain and weak exhaustion as his chest moved with uneven breaths.

"I don't know," Connor admitted, looking miserable as his eyes fell back to his brother. "It was the head that bit him, not the tail, so I don't think it's poisoned, but…"

Percy's throat tightened as he inspected the damage with his eyes. It didn't look good. He raised his head and did a quick survey of the area, noting that things seemed to be quieting down for now. At least until the monsters started to reform. With luck, though, they'd have some time before that happened. "Let's get back to camp," he decided. With an anxious look at Travis, he added, "Fast."

-ψ-ψ-ψ-

The camp infirmary was much more crowded after the recent battle. The majority of the beds were now occupied by people in various states of injury and Greek and Roman healers were bustling about the tent, carrying supplies to one station or another. Travis was pulled from Percy and Connor's grasp almost immediately and taken to a bed, while no fewer than five campers busied themselves over him. Connor followed them and tried to stay close by while another healer offered to bandage the side of Percy's head where Hedge had hit him. He ignored the person as his gaze landed on his girlfriend, who was sitting on the edge of a bed near the back of the tent and talking to a girl from the Apollo cabin, an agitated look on her face.

With a frown, Percy pushed through the crowd until he reached the bed. "What are you doing here?" he asked Annabeth seriously. "You were out there? You're not hurt, are you?"

"'Hello' to you, too, Seaweed Brain," she replied sarcastically as the other girl took one look at Percy and edged around him with some half-hearted excuse about checking on another patient. "And to answer your questions, yes, I was out there, and no, I'm fine. I just twisted my wrist, is all. I told these guys they have more important injuries to deal with, but they're insisting everything be treated." She frowned and wrinkled her nose, then added, "Ugh, why do you smell like a sewer?"

"Long story."

"And what happened to your head? I didn't know you were in the battle, too."

"Blackjack got a distress call from some of the other pegasi," Percy explained, dodging his girlfriend's arm as she reached for him with a frown. "Don't worry, I'm fine, too. It wasn't even a monster that did this."

Annabeth looked confused. "Wasn't even—?"

"Brother!" a familiar voice interrupted as an iron grip snatched Percy by the arm and pulled him sideways into an actual-sized bear hug. He stumbled in surprise, not needing to guess who had attacked him.

"Tyson—when did you get here?" he asked with a grin, pulling himself from the arms of his Cyclops half-brother.

Tyson beamed down at him, his single eye bright between growing curtains of thick brown hair. "Half hour ago," he replied. "Message from camp asked for supplies from the forges. I came to deliver them so I could see you!"

Percy laughed as Tyson turned to give Annabeth a smothering hug. For a while now, Tyson had been living with the rest of the gods' Cyclops allies in Poseidon's underwater kingdom. When the gods disappeared at the start of the war, things down there had gotten difficult without Poseidon and Amphitrite—even Triton, their immortal son—to lead them, and Tyson and the others were doing their best to keep order in the seas. The Cyclops forges still supplied Camp Half-Blood with materials and equipment, and contact lines between the camp and the forge were always open. But visits were few and far between. Percy knew his brother was always busy, so seeing him every once in a while was something he looked forward to. Even if he wouldn't be able to stay long.

"How's everything down below?" Percy asked.

"Hard," Tyson answered, shaking his head sadly. "Everybody wants to know where Daddy is, why he left us. I tell them, 'Daddy has a reason. Trust him.' But do they listen? No. War makes people crazy."

"You can say that again," Percy agreed with a sigh. "Just hang in there, big guy. We're working on a way to get the gods back."

"Really?" Tyson said, seeming to perk up. "I knew brother would help! You will save us!"

Unexpectedly, Percy thought of their last prophecy, of the line he knew was meant for him or his brother: _Son of the Storm-bringer, doomed to fail_. A heavy shadow seemed to settle over him at the thought and he tried to keep his smile from fading. He must not have completely succeeded, though, because Annabeth reached over and gently touched his hand, smiling when he looked toward her. Was she reading his mind, like she sometimes seemed to be able to do? Either way, he felt the dark weight lift a little and he gave her a weak smile; she was the only one who always had that effect on him.

"Is… Ella here?" Tyson asked, touching his fingers together and shuffling his feet a bit awkwardly.

Annabeth looked like she was trying not to smile when she pointed over her shoulder and answered, "She's probably with Rachel. Hardly ever leaves her bedside." As Tyson nodded and started toward the back of the tent, Percy decided to follow him. Annabeth hopped down from her bed and went along as they all pushed through the bustle of people.

"Hello, Ella," Tyson greeted the crimson harpy, who was perched on a chair beside the bed on which Rachel Dare lay sleeping.

"Tyson," Ella said, looking up and blinking as though waking from a dream. "Tyson is back. Ella is happy." She smiled shyly and shifted on her chair, momentarily hiding her head beneath a wing.

As Tyson blushed and moved to stand by the harpy, Percy and Annabeth stepped up to the other side of Rachel's bed, looking down at her. Rachel had always been one of the liveliest people Percy had known. All of his memories of her showed her smiling, laughing, yelling, glaring—being expressive, no matter what emotion that entailed. It was strange to see her so quiet and still, trapped in a sort of coma and frowning in her sleep as though in pain. He wished there were something they could do to help her, but according to the healers, they were out of ideas.

"I hate seeing her like this," Annabeth whispered, as though she were sharing Percy's thoughts. "We have to beat Erebos. It might be the only way to save her."

"I know," Percy agreed. He reached out and touched Rachel's arm, flinching at the coldness of her skin. He had to focus on her breathing to convince himself she was still alive, though it didn't do much to quell the worry. He was reminded sickeningly of the last Oracle host—a decades-old mummy that had lived in the dusty attic of the Big House. He tried not to compare Rachel to her undead predecessor, but her current condition certainly wasn't helping matters.

As Percy retracted his hand, Rachel's eyes suddenly snapped open and her arm shot out, fingers closing around his wrist in an iron, vice-like grip. He staggered as his heart almost stopped in surprise and Annabeth gasped. He tried reflexively to wrench his arm from the girl's grasp, but her hold was like a welded shackle. She lifted her head and looked right at Percy, her eyes glowing solid green—just like when the Oracle possessed her to give a prophecy. When she opened her mouth, thin wisps of emerald smoke brushed out from between her lips.

"_Ocean's son_," she said in a hoarse, raspy voice that sounded like twenty people talking at once, "_of this I warn: in you, I see a darkness born_."

"What's going on?" a voice asked urgently as Will Solace suddenly appeared on Annabeth's other side.

No one answered. Percy was staring at Rachel—at the Oracle—with wide eyes, her impossibly firm grip on his wrist sending thin spikes of pain up his forearm. It was like the coldness of her skin had frozen him in place; he didn't think he could have moved if he'd tried.

"_The blood-stained bond your light must break_," Rachel went on in that same horrible voice, dead eyes burning into Percy's. "_A death through death the sun to wake_."

Then her grip vanished, her eyes closed, and her head fell back as though she'd never stirred at all.

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><p><strong>My, oh, my! What could this mean? Nothing good, as I'm sure you can guess. But we all know more danger equals more fun, so why stop now? Bring on the drama!<strong>

**So get speculating, drop me a review, and I'll see you guys sometime next week! Later days!**

**-oMM**


	15. XV Percy

**Hey, gang! Guess what? I finally got over the block I was having on the next chapter set! And now that Chapters 16-18 are done, I feel much better about this and am ready to get back to a more regular schedule. About time, right? Still, when you consider how years ago it used to take me months to write a single chapter, you have to admit I'm still doing pretty darn well.**

**Anyway, thanks as usual to everybody who reviewed last chapter! Glad you're all like me and agree that more added drama equals more added fun! So have a bit of fluff as an apology for my slow updates, and I promise I'll be back early next week with another new chapter :D**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XV<br>PERCY**

Everyone around was in shock. Percy blinked a few times, realizing he was breathing too fast and trying to calm his nerves.

"What… just happened?" someone asked, and Percy became vaguely aware that a host of other people had gathered at the Oracle's sudden movement. And almost all of them were staring at him like he'd just grown a snake for a tail.

"Was that a prophecy?" Will said in disbelief. He was one of the few people who weren't looking at Percy, because his eyes were trained on Rachel's sleeping form.

"I don't…" Annabeth muttered weakly. Then she cleared her throat and said more surely, "I don't think so. Not exactly, anyway."

"What do you mean?" Percy asked her, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

"Well, think about it," she replied. Her voice was steady and firm, but her expression was still one of surprise and fear. "Have you ever heard the Oracle say the word 'I' in a prophecy? Plus, the wording was off. She said… 'light _must_ break', instead of 'light _will_ break'. I don't think this was a prophecy. I think… I think it was a warning." Her eyes lifted to meet Percy's and her brow furrowed in an expression of worry. "A warning for you."

"Well, whatever it is, it can't be good," a Roman healer spoke up. "What was that last bit? 'A death through death'. We've kept everyone alive so far, and now we've got, what, two deaths on our hands?"

"Two deaths," Ella repeated in a whispery voice, rocking back and forth on her chair. "The Black Death. Reduced Europe's population by thirty to sixty percent. One hundred thousand deaths. Two deaths. Too many."

Percy had to agree. Two deaths _were_ too many.

"Well, whatever it was," Will said as he pushed forward and began to check Rachel's vitals, "she must have been determined to get it out. Any longer and it might've killed her."

"She'll be okay, right?" someone else asked.

"I think so. Her heart rate's slowing back to normal."

As everyone started discussing the warning at the same time, Percy suddenly decided he wanted to be anywhere else but there. Why did these things always happen to him? Why was he the target of every prophecy and every bad omen the Oracle warned about? What made him so special, anyway? And why did everybody feel the need to talk about it like he wasn't even there—to hash it out and speculate all the horrible things it could mean? And why did everybody seem to be talking about him _dying?_

Without a word, Percy spun around and shoved his way through the throng of people, putting as much distance between himself and Rachel as he could. Already he could feel a shadowy frustration boiling inside him, and all he wanted to do was get out and be alone. He didn't want to think about the prophecy, and he didn't want to think about the Oracle's interest in him. None of it mattered. He wasn't going to let anything distract him, not now when they were getting closer to an advantage in the war.

But the problem was that no matter how much he didn't want this to be a distraction, he couldn't stop it. The Oracle's words just now hadn't exactly predicted sunshine and rainbows. _'A darkness born', 'the blood-stained bond', 'a death through death'._ Absolutely none of that sounded good. The entire verse played over and over in his head on a morbid repeat, reminding him that no matter how hard he tried to make everything work out, his life was constantly doomed anyway.

Once outside, Percy walked around the side of the infirmary tent and slowed to a stop in the shadow it cast on the grass, taking a deep breath and staring hard at the ground. He heard someone approach him from behind and knew immediately who it was.

"I'm sorry," Annabeth said quietly. "I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that. I was just… surprised and worried and… I spoke without thinking." Her hand gently touched his shoulder and he felt the tension seep from his muscles like a switch had been flicked.

"No, it's okay," Percy argued with a deep sigh, turning to face her. "You were right. She was speaking right to me, after all—'Ocean's son' and all that." He sat down heavily on the ground, pulling a clump of grass from the dirt as Annabeth lowered herself down beside him.

"What do you think she meant," she said after a long minute "when she said 'in you, I see a darkness born'?"

Thinking about it made Percy remember the strangely hopeless feeling that had been trying to worm its way through him lately. A number of times, he'd compared it to a shadow, taking root in his gut and spreading like a virus to his heart. He got angry easier, lost his will more quickly. It didn't usually last long, and before now he'd attributed it to the Shadow War. After all, it wasn't abnormal for war to have a negative effect on a person's spirit. But what if it was more than that? What if he'd somehow been infected by this darkness—if it was growing inside him like a disease? What if the Oracle could see it, and was trying to warn him before something terrible happened?

"I don't know," he finally said aloud, fighting to get the words out. Part of him wanted to tell Annabeth the truth, but talking about it wouldn't be easy. Plus, the last thing he wanted to do was worry her. Forcing a bit of humor into his voice, he added, "I'm more worried about the 'death through death' thing. Now I'm supposed to fail _and_ die? So much for my 'happily ever after'."

"You're _not_ going to die," Annabeth said firmly. She gripped his left hand in her right and used her other to turn his head toward her, looking him in the eyes. "And if you do, I'll march straight to the Underworld and drag you back myself. Hades can't have you. I'm not done with you yet."

Percy laughed, feeling a huge chunk of his apprehension dissipate and fade. "When you say it like that, I think I might prefer the mercy of the Lord of the Dead."

Her eyebrows shot up and she leaned back a few inches, letting go of his hand and folding her arms. "Oh, really?" she replied indignantly, though he could tell she wasn't serious. "Well, in that case, fine. I was going to kiss you, but if you'd rather wake up Hades and lock lips with him, then be my—"

As though attempting to prove her wrong, he slid a hand under her jaw and leaned forward, fighting a smile as he pressed his lips to hers. She responded at once, leaning into him and raising a hand to loosely touch the front of his shirt. He waited a while before pulling back, all worry and fear momentarily gone from his mind and replaced by a numbing sort of elation.

"You always know what to say to cheer me up," he told her with a light smirk, and even though his voice was wry he meant what he was saying.

Judging by Annabeth's smile, she knew that. "I can read your mind, remember?" she said, a tiny, mischievous glint in her eyes that she seemed to reserve only for him.

As her hands slid up his chest and around his neck, he swallowed hard and asked, "Yeah? What am I thinking now?"

"Same thing as me," she answered, before guiding his mouth back to hers. She pulled him closer to her and tilted herself back until she was lying on the grass with him leaning over her. One of his hands pushed the loose hair from her face while the other held him upright and both of hers tightened in the fabric of his shirt over his chest. Unfortunately, she unknowingly poked hard at the bruises formed by the chimera's hooves, and he broke the kiss to let out a sharp hiss of pain.

"What's wrong?" Annabeth asked, eyebrows knitting together as her eyes lowered to survey Percy's body for visible wounds.

"Nothing," he insisted, rubbing his chest with the hand that wasn't keeping him from falling on his girlfriend. "Got kicked by a chimera. Freakin' goat hooves hurt like heck."

"A chimera?" she repeated in surprise, pushing herself up on her elbows and forcing him to shift sideways next to her. "You fought a chimera? How?"

"Very carefully."

"And you killed it?" She raised her eyebrows and he nodded with a half-shrug. Then she shook her head, sighed, and said, "I have the world's most skilled idiot for a boyfriend."

"Hey," he said uncertainly, unsure whether or not to be offended.

She gave a light, exasperated sort of laugh at the look on his face and reached out to grip his collar. She pulled him toward her and the instant their lips touched a nearby voice called out, "Percy! Annabeth! You guys out… here…" The voice trailed off. Backing reluctantly away from Annabeth, Percy sighed shortly and looked up to see a blonde girl a year or two younger than him from the Aphrodite cabin—Lacy, he was pretty sure her name was—standing at the corner of the tent. She was watching them with her mouth slightly open and an apologetic look on her face.

"Oh, um," she said lamely, "sorry. I didn't mean to… interrupt. It's just… someone told Chiron about that thing with Rachel, and now he wants to see you. But, I mean, take your time. Really. It's nowhere near as important." She flashed them a bright smile and waved, then turned and hurried around the bend, leaving them alone.

"Great," Percy grumbled, sitting back. Just what he wanted, more talking about his promising future.

"Hey," Annabeth said gently, her fingers reaching out to brush his arm. "We're gonna figure this out, okay? Together, like we always do. We'll get through this."

He looked into her calm, gray eyes and a smile appeared unbidden on his face. "Yeah," he agreed, actually starting to believe it. "I know."

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><p><strong>Yes, short and hardly worth the wait. Sorry about that. But hey, at least I'm past my mental wall and my typing fingers are on the move again. That's something to look forward to, I'd say.<strong>

**How 'bout some reviews? Just want to yell at me? Express your unbridled joy that I'm back in action? Either way, bring it on! See you all again soon!**

**Later days!**

**-oMM**


	16. XVI Piper

**Hey, everybody! Have a good weekend? Ready for another update? This chapter's a bit short, but just like I warned at the beginning of Blood and Sand, the chapter length of this story is gonna vary quite a lot. It's very difficult to keep the same pattern of narrators, and I'm trying hard not to let this drag too much. But it's a lot of work, and I don't want to distract too much from the main plot, so that unfortunately means there will be short chapters. But hey, as any of you who've written stories like this before will understand, long chapters aren't always better - and they certainly aren't ever easier.**

**So anyway, thanks so much to everybody who reviewed last week! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XVI<br>PIPER**

News of Rachel Dare's momentary awakening had spread through the camp like Greek fire overnight, and by morning everyone was talking about it. The Oracle's warning had been torn apart and compared line-by-line to Rachel's last prophecy in an effort to uncover any hint or clue as to its meaning. There were theories, but so far the general consensus was that they were really no better off than they'd been a day ago. Especially considering the absurdity of some people's interpretations. Piper suspected that her fellow campers were exploring every possibility, no matter how impossible, because they were just so desperate for an end to this war. And to be completely honest, she couldn't blame them.

The only thing everyone seemed to agree on was that Percy was suddenly much more important to the war effort than previously believed. The manner of which, however, varied—some people wanted him to lead a charge on Olympus immediately, thinking that the Oracle's prediction obviously indicated that he would be the only one able to defeat Erebos. Others, however, were insisting that the warning meant he was destined to turn on them—to join Erebos and bring about their downfall. Piper didn't believe the latter group for a second, but she had a hard time supporting the former as well. Either way, she felt bad for Percy—he was obviously trying not to let the increased attention and pressure get to him, but she couldn't imagine what he must have been feeling underneath.

Piper didn't know what to make of Rachel's warning herself, or the remainder of the prophecy, for that matter. Both indicated an end to the war—the prophecy spoke of 'bringing light' and the last line of the warning contained the words 'the sun to wake'. Those, at the very least, had to be good signs. The trouble was that they were lacking solid ideas that brought them to that point. What should they do next? How could they erase the darkness? If Leo and the others succeeded in freeing Hypnos—and, by association, the rest of the gods—then that would be a huge step in the right direction. The Resistance may not have much opportunity to defeat Erebos, but the other gods' chances had to be brighter.

Distracted by her thoughts, Piper's hand slipped in its back and forth motion of buffing the sword on her lap and her right index finger slid across the bronze blade. She breathed in sharply and cursed under her breath, bringing her finger up to her mouth reflexively and sucking on the cut as blood welled over her knuckle. The slice was long but shallow; she knew she should probably tie it off, but it wasn't exactly urgent. Moreover, she was glad she was alone in the weapon shed—anyone watching might have thought she'd never cleaned a sword before, let alone handled one.

"You okay?" a voice suddenly asked. So much for being alone.

Piper looked to her left to see a dark-haired girl a few years older than her standing just inside the doorway with her arms full of equipment. Piper smiled when she recognized her—her name was Gwen, a former member of the Roman Twelfth Legion. They'd only talked a few times, but Gwen had always been friendly toward her and the other Greeks.

"Yeah, fine," she answered, shaking her hand in an effort to quell the stinging. "Wasn't paying attention. Nothing serious."

Gwen nodded and started setting down the items in her arms—hanging shields from the wall, placing a pair of daggers on their shelf, dropping pieces of armor into properly-labeled boxes. "What are you doing in here by yourself?"

Piper shrugged, shifting her position so she was facing the other girl. "Cleaning equipment is a good way to get some time alone to think. Things have been… busy lately." It was true that almost every corner of the camp was typically occupied at all hours of the day. The weapon storage sheds were among the few places in which Piper could sometimes manage to find uninterrupted time to herself—which, with everything going on, was something she needed.

"I don't know how you do it," Gwen said with a small, almost sad smile, eyes traveling over the rows of weapons on the walls of the small shed. "I prefer to stay busy, around people. Keeps me from thinking about… you know."

Piper bit her lip, feeling suddenly intrusive. She didn't have to ask for the rest of that sentence. Gwen kept herself distracted to avoid thinking about Dakota, the Roman centurion who'd gone under with the rest of New Rome last month. Piper had heard that Gwen used to be centurion of the Fifth Cohort herself, before she retired and Frank took her place. She wasn't sure if Gwen and Dakota had just been good friends or anything more, but either way the older girl had been devastated by his death. Piper hadn't known either of them as well as she'd liked to have, so she wasn't sure how to respond. Before she could decide, however, Gwen gave a heavy sigh and turned toward her with a smile that didn't quite reach her distant eyes.

"Well, I should get back," she said. "See you later, Piper."

"Gwen, wait," Piper said quickly, the words seeming to spring from her mouth of their own accord. "Do you… want to talk? You look like you need it." She set the sword on her lap aside and smiled, adding, "I've been told I'm pretty good with words."

Gwen squeezed her hands together, wringing them tightly. The look on her face showed confliction. "I don't… Well…"

"You should relax," Piper told her, charmspeak in her voice. She knew it wasn't nice to use it on her friends, but in her opinion, the situation called for it. Thankfully, it seemed to work, and Gwen breathed out slowly and dropped her hands to her sides. "It's okay to be sad, you don't have to hide it."

"I know," Gwen replied. She sat down heavily on a nearby bench and stared at her knees, a melancholy look on her face. "I just… I feel so selfish. So many people died, and all I can think about is him."

"That just means he meant more to you than anyone else," Piper said gently. "There's nothing wrong with that."

Gwen shook her head, brushing a tear from the corner of her eye. "Maybe, but I still can't… I mean, everyone else is working so hard, focusing on the war and trying to protect the camp. I've always tried my hardest to stay positive, to help people through tough times. I can't let them down now, not when it's so important. Right now, we need all the help and strength we can get."

"Look," Piper argued, keeping her voice calm but firm. "The only thing worse than losing somebody you care about is… trying to pretend you don't care that they're gone. Wallowing in grief won't help you move on, true, but neither will pushing it away. Trust me, your friends understand what you're going through. And they'll understand if you need to take some time to yourself. We've got enough people blundering about this place that we won't miss you for a little while." She gave a wry smile and was glad when Gwen returned it. She wasn't sure quite where all those words were coming from, but she felt like they were what the Roman girl needed to hear. Maybe it was another small blessing from her mother, Aphrodite—if anyone could see into people's hearts and know what they really wanted, it would be the goddess of love.

If only that little trick could work on Jason, Piper couldn't help but think. If she could see his heart and understand what he was thinking, maybe she could find a way to help him—to make things right with him. She replayed Gwen's words in her mind, about wanting to work hard like everyone else and do what she could to help out, even if that meant ignoring her own grief. Would it be better if Jason thought that way as well? He hadn't avoided work, sure, but his outlook was noticeably dark. If he'd tried for a false optimism like Gwen, could he have avoided pushing everyone away? Or would that only have hardened his heart and made things worse? Piper couldn't even begin to guess. Anymore, she felt as though Jason had become a different person—someone she didn't understand at all. And that scared and saddened her.

"I guess you're right," Gwen admitted, bringing Piper back to the present. "Maybe a break _is_ what I need. To think about… things, and just sort of… let them go."

Piper smiled. "Here's what I want you to do," she said, magic in her voice. "Go back to your tent. Relax. Get some sleep. Cry if you need to. Don't avoid thinking about your grief for a while. Then you'll find it easier to move on."

Gwen blinked as the power in Piper's words washed over her. Then she smiled and said, "Thanks, Piper. We should talk more often." She gave a friendly wave and stood, heading for the shed door, but stumbled to a halt the second she stepped outside as someone running by nearly collided with her. "Whoa—Larry, where's the fire?" she said as she and the teenage boy steadied themselves. "What's going on?"

"You seen Jason's girlfriend anywhere?" Larry asked without looking at her.

With a frown, Piper stood and walked toward them, saying, "I'm right here. What's going on?"

"Oh, good," Larry said with a breath of relief. He turned to face her with serious eyes. "Follow me, I need your help." He reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the storage shack and a few feet up the hill toward the Big House.

Startled, Piper wrenched her arm from his grip and dug her feet into the ground. "How about you tell me what's wrong before dragging me off?" she shot at him.

He sighed shortly, looking frustrated, and answered, "Jason and Octavian are arguing. And if we don't do something, it looks like things are gonna get ugly."

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><p><strong>That sounds fun, huh? Dunno when the next update will be. I just started writing Chapter 20 so I'm not quite as far ahead as I'd like to be, but if I get a few more done this week maybe I'll update on Friday. If not, expect one next Tuesday at the latest.<strong>

**Thanks, everybody! Later days!**

**-oMM**


	17. XVII Piper

**Hey, gang :) So this chapter right here was the reason for my mini-break. I hated the way it was originally going, so I had to scrap it and re-write it, then I didn't like that either so I just planned the whole thing extensively in my head and re-did this section of my outline. Then I was finally able to come up with this version, which I like much better than its predecessors. It accomplishes what I wanted it to accomplish and sheds just the right light on all the involved characters. I'm much happier now, and glad I took the time to work it out.**

**Anyway, thanks as always for reading and extra to those of you who reviewed! Enjoy this slightly longer and more dramatic update!**

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><p><strong>XVII<br>PIPER**

When Larry said things were getting ugly, he wasn't kidding.

Piper heard Jason and Octavian before she saw them. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but both their voices were clearly audible before she, Larry, and Gwen turned a corner and they came into sight, standing a few yards apart just a little ways north of the Big House with a small group of mostly-Roman onlookers watching warily. Octavian was staring coldly at Jason, his lip curled in a harsh sneer. He held a knife in one hand and a slashed stuffed hippopotamus in the other, white fluff piled on the ground at his feet. His body was deathly, threateningly still. Jason was staring back just as adamantly, his hands balled into fists and shaking at his sides like he was resisting the urge to start throwing punches.

"You _dare_ insult the auguries?" Octavian was saying, his voice dangerously low. "I came to you as an act of _respect_. I could have spread the word and called for action myself. And perhaps I should have, if you insist on being so stubbornly—"

"_Respect?_" Jason shot back with a slightly hysterical laugh. "Yeah, right! The only one you _respect_ is yourself. You're not fooling me, you know. You think this'll make you look good, that's all it is. What, you want to try to discredit me in the process? I bet _that's_ why you came to me. And that's why I said to forget it! We're not putting more lives in danger to suit your selfish—"

"So what do you intend to do instead, _nothing?_ Sit here and twiddle your thumbs until Erebos comes to finish us off? That's a fantastic plan, o wise leader." Octavian rolled his eyes with exaggerated sarcasm. "And while you're busy being a disgrace to the name of Camp Jupiter, I'll just follow along and refrain from voicing ideas that might be good for us!" He raised his hippo above his head and shook it meaningfully in the air, dropping bits of fluff from the gash in its belly. "We may not get another chance like this! How can you stand there and say we shouldn't take it?"

As Jason opened his mouth to retort, Piper took a step forward and cut him off. "_What_ is going on here?" she demanded firmly, staring hard at each of the boys in turn. They blinked and glanced her way, compelled by the power in her voice.

Jason met Piper's eyes for a brief second before averting his gaze, looking frustrated, so Octavian answered stiffly, "This is a matter for Jason and I to decide. It doesn't concern you. Clear off."

Jason's eyes seemed to flash. "Don't talk to her like that. In case you haven't noticed, you're kind of making a scene. She's just trying to help."

"_I'm_ making—" Octavian repeated angrily, before forcing his mouth closed and straightening with a hard glare at Jason. "There wouldn't be a '_scene'_ if you just listened to reason. Are you a Roman or aren't you? I expected you to jump at this chance to make up for your mistakes. If it was known that you authorized the assault that brought an end to this war, then certainly—"

"This has nothing to do with me!" Jason argued, shaking his head and taking a step toward Octavian. "I told you, I'm not putting people in danger because you want a chance at glory—"

"You aren't _listening!_" Octavian asserted, fists tightening around the objects in his hands. He too stepped forward and shook the hippo in Jason's face, sending stuffing flying in all directions so that Jason blinked and leaned backward. "I _saw_ it!"

"In _what?_ _Stuffing?_" Jason's eyes were wide, almost crazy. It scared Piper to see him that way as he grabbed the stuffed hippo from Octavian's hand and threw it on the ground. "Do you realize how ridiculous you look? I bet you just made the whole thing up to suit whatever ridiculous plot you've got to take over the Legion!"

Looking offended, Octavian lowered his arm and said darkly, "These Greeks have poisoned you against the Roman ways. The old Jason Grace would never have let so many of his own people die when New Rome was taken. But because of your _weakness_, we suffered a loss greater than ever before. And now the time comes to make up for it, and instead you choose to sulk around and ignore your duty as praetor! You are no longer fit to be leader!"

Jason yelled in anger and reached out to shove Octavian, but Piper could see the thin, bright bolts of electricity sparking to life down his arms as he moved. She stepped forward and called, "Wait!" but she was too slow. Jason slammed his hands against Octavian's shoulders and a loud _crack_ split the air as the augur was thrown backward, landing thirty feet away and rolling another ten across the ground.

Piper threw her hands over her mouth as many voices around her gasped in shock. Jason seemed to freeze like he'd been encased in ice, his eyes wide and suddenly devoid of fury. Smoke rising from his clothes, Octavian pushed himself up on his hands and grimaced. With difficulty, he climbed to his feet, and as he stumbled unsteadily Piper saw a pair of charred holes in his T-shirt.

For a long minute, no one spoke. Piper didn't know what to say. She could tell by the look on Jason's face that the attack had been an accident. His mouth was moving silently as though he wanted to speak but couldn't make the words come out. Should she yell at him? Should she take his side? Was there even a right side to take?

"You said… you would protect… Camp Jupiter," Octavian said in a low, breathless voice. His hands, no longer gripping his knife and hippo, were shaking at his sides. He looked nauseous, like any second he would either pass out or throw up. His eyes rose to meet Jason's, and Piper felt a jolt of surprise when she saw genuine betrayal on the centurion's face. "But look at you now."

Jason seemed to tense, his mouth once again opening soundlessly and his eyebrows knitting tightly together. Octavian shook his head and took two steps backward, then yelled sharply and staggered to one knee. This time, two people—Larry and a Roman girl Piper didn't recognize, possibly the other First Cohort centurion—rushed to his side, carefully gripping his arms and pulling him back to his feet. Larry shot Jason a stunned sort of look, like he still couldn't believe what had just happened, before he and the girl led Octavian away toward the infirmary. Jason watched them go, a lost sort of look on his face.

"Jason," Piper said, doing her best to keep her voice firm and calm. She clenched her hands into fists to keep them from shaking and tried to ignore the uncomfortable murmurs and glances around her. "Please, listen to—"

She broke off as he spun around and she found herself staring at his back. For a few seconds he stood there silently, and then he hunched his shoulders and he walked away.

Piper watched him go, part of her wanting to go after him. But the scene she'd just witnessed made her uneasy, and proved even more that Jason was slipping farther and farther from her understanding. She remembered Leo's message, his advice that she should try and get through to Jason. But the fact of the matter was that she had no idea how to do that. And going in blindly would probably only make things worse.

So she turned away, averting her eyes from his back and letting him slip from her mind. It was cowardly, but she wasn't able to face him. Not now. Instead, her gaze slid up toward the infirmary, where Octavian was headed. She knew there was no hope of Jason's hearing her right now, but perhaps there was someone else who still could. So with that in mind, she pushed her way through the small crowd of whisperers and stalked purposefully toward the medical tent.

All of the minor injuries from the battle the previous night had been treated, leaving only those who needed more long-term attention in the infirmary. Activity was relatively low, so Piper was able to spot Octavian almost immediately—he had removed his burned T-shirt and was leaning back against the pillow of the third bed on the right, wincing as a Roman healer spread a strangely luminous, silvery salve over the ugly burns on his shoulders.

Piper lingered by the doorway while she waited for the healer to finish. Her eyes traveled around the room, passing over the occupied beds and their visitors. She hadn't been out in the battle, but judging by the aftermath, it hadn't been pretty. A number of people had been poisoned by a mess of creatures called basilisks, and though Will Solace and his cabin-mates had been able to develop an antidote, it wasn't exactly fast-acting, as many of those afflicted were still moaning in their infirmary beds while their skin faded from sickly gray back to its normal hue. Aside from those poisoned, serious injuries were mercifully few, leaving only three new people bedridden. A girl Piper didn't know by name but who she thought might have been from the Dionysus cabin was occupying the second to last bed on the left, surrounded by a small gaggle of friends while she recovered from a nasty head injury. A teenage boy a few years older than Piper whom she recognized as Larry's fellow Second Cohort centurion (and whose name she was pretty sure was Pete) was lying across and two beds up from the Dionysus girl, his right leg having been so badly crushed beneath an overturned car that word was he wouldn't ever walk on it again. The third bed on the left—across the tent from Octavian—held one of the head counselors of the Hermes cabin, Travis Stoll, who was in a sort of coma after a vicious attack from a chimera. He had yet to wake since being brought in the previous night, and some of the healers evidently weren't sure yet whether or not he ever would. The Demeter head counselor, Katie, was seated by Travis's bedside, her hands gripping one of his like a lifeline and her face ghostly pale. Piper felt a lump form in her throat as an image rose unbidden behind her eyes, of her and Jason in place of Katie and Travis. What would she do if one or both of them was hurt before they were able to make up?

Noticing Larry and the First Cohort girl duck out of the tent, Piper forcibly returned her attention to Octavian to see him alone at his bed, poking at the substance covering his chest and shoulders. With a short breath of conviction, she started toward him, trying to clear her face of any emotion. If she wanted to get to the bottom of what had happened and why, she couldn't start by antagonizing the augur, no matter how unpleasant she found him. She wasn't sure how successful she could be—after all, she and Octavian had never really talked one-on-one before. But she was there, and she had to try something. This fighting was doing no good for anyone.

When Octavian's eyes swept across her, he frowned momentarily before giving a rueful snort. "I hope Jason sent you to apologize for his behavior," he said.

Piper felt a swell of irritation but did her best to ignore it. He had a right, after all, to be a bit put-off, considering what Jason had just done (though she rather thought his bringing up the sinking of New Rome was a bit of a low blow). Up close, she could see the darkened burns on his skin beneath the gel-like cream, deepest near his collarbone and spreading like ugly, burgundy tendrils over his shoulders and down his chest. It wasn't pretty.

"No, but you're right," she replied. "He does need to apologize. He shouldn't have attacked you like that." Octavian lifted his shoulder and shot a look of agreement at the foot of the bed. When he didn't respond, she went on, "I just want to know what happened, why you and he were arguing. What did you see in the… you know, stuffing?"

His eyes narrowed, as though he wasn't sure whether she was serious or making fun of him. "An opportunity," he said shortly, still staring straight ahead and not looking at her. "Fortune is in our favor tonight. It would be cowardly not to take that chance."

"So… you wanted to lead an assault on Olympus?" Piper guessed with a frown, leaning back against the bed beside Octavian's and folding her arms. "What are you, crazy?"

"I'm _Roman_," he snapped. "I wouldn't expect _you_ to understand. The military organization of Greek culture and tradition is far outstripped by their Roman successors. All this sitting around, 'gathering our strength'… It's driving me mad. I could have pulled this off. I know it."

Was it Piper's imagination, or had a tiny fraction of his angry certainty ebbed at the end of that explanation? "So you were willing to risk your life and the lives of others just to prove a point?" she said carefully, keeping her voice free of accusation and instead lacing it with concerned disbelief. "I know this war is rough, okay? I want it to end just as much as you do. But for that to happen, we have to work together. There's no Roman or Greek anymore, not now. We're _one_ camp with _one_ army—"

"That's the _point!_" Octavian interrupted, turning to glare at Piper. "We _are_ one army—_your_ army. At _your_ camp. Following _your_ rules. Everything _I _believe is disappearing!" She knew that by 'you' he was referring not to her specifically, but to the Greek demigods in general. Still, she blinked in mild alarm and searched his eyes to see if he was telling the truth—which, to her slight surprise, she concluded that he was. He seemed to realize what she was doing and his eyebrows drew together as he averted his gaze again, swallowing hard and staring at the tent wall opposite his bed. "Forget it," he said with finality. "Why don't you go convince our dear praetor to stop moping and start being useful? If he won't listen to me, then maybe, gods be good, he'll listen to you."

After a brief moment of indecision, Piper breathed out slowly, throwing magic into her voice, and said firmly, "I want _you_ to listen to me. Please. You can't lie about everything all the time. Sometimes you need to let people see the truth. Why not start with me? Tell me what's really on your mind."

He blinked hazily and was quiet for a long minute. Piper wasn't sure if her charmspeak had worked properly at first, but then he tilted his head to the side and repeated, "I'm Roman." His eyebrows knitted like he wasn't sure why he was saying what he was, and the next time he opened his mouth no words came out.

"Yes…?" Piper prodded, worried that that was all she was going to get.

"I've always been Roman," he went on, his expression still vaguely confused. "Our rules, our customs, our organization, our fighting style—it's all I've ever known. And it's all I know now. But when we lost our city and so many of our members, it was… It's like we've lost what we are." He twisted his head slowly around so he was looking at something near Piper's left shoulder. "She beat us—that goddess, Nyx. She destroyed our order, our security. She left us to rely on you and the other Greeks—to subjugate ourselves to your way of life."

"No," Piper argued with a frown. "No, we aren't trying to turn you Greek or anything like that. We want you to stay the way you are, just to work together with us."

Unexpectedly, Octavian replied, "I know. You aren't our enemies, and it's not your fault. We really should be working together. But don't you get it? Staying here is affecting us—making it hard, if not impossible to carry on the way we were before New Rome sank into the sand. It's like you said—we're one army. And one army can't have two entirely different lifestyles. This camp is your home, not ours. In trying to assimilate, we're losing everything that made us different in the first place."

And then Piper understood. It wasn't as though the members of Camp Half-Blood were trying to undermine the Roman way of life—they'd given their new residents whatever space they could and more than the necessary freedom to go about their usual way. But that didn't mean it would be that easy. The Romans had lost so many of their own, and then been thrust into a place so different from their own home that they must have had no choice but to abandon many of their customs in an effort to join forces. It hadn't been easy, creating room for and welcoming the Romans, but Piper had never put enough thought into how much harder it had to be for them. _'Everything I believe is disappearing.'_ Octavian didn't hate the Greeks and didn't want to avoid collaboration—he only wanted to avoid losing himself and his own camp in the process.

"You didn't really see anything about good fortune tonight, did you?" she said with a twinge of understanding.

He shook his head. "No. Like I said, just sitting here is driving me mad. I wanted to do something…"

As his voice trailed off, Piper finished his sentence, "Roman," and he sighed in admission. She bit her lip, mind racing with possible responses. She thought of her talk with Gwen a while ago, how she'd somehow been able to see into the older girl's heart and know exactly what she needed to hear. With a quick prayer that this time she'd be able to pull it off again, she unfolded her arms and said, "Then do something Roman. Reyna appointed you to take her place while she's gone, didn't she? So do it. Be the leader that your camp needs right now. I know Jason still has it in him to do what needs to be done, but at the moment he can't handle so much responsibility on his own. He needs you. And the Legion needs you both."

"So, what," he said dryly, "we keep stumbling around the camp and wait for the gods to save us?"

"For now," Piper admitted. "But eventually, the time _will_ come when we'll have to fight. And when it does, your camp will need you. So you'd better start earning their trust now while you can, and making sure they're ready before it's too late."

Piper could tell the effect of her charmspeak was wearing off. Octavian no longer looked vague or confused, and was now looking at her with an unreadable expression. His blue eyes seemed to study her face as though trying to decide if this was some kind of trick. But it wasn't—not really, and she trusted her expression to prove it. She genuinely wanted for him and Jason to be able to work together, to lead and protect what was left of Camp Jupiter. Now more than ever, they all needed to stand strong and together, or there would be no end to the Shadow War. Or at least—not one that Piper liked to imagine.

Before Octavian could respond, the Roman healer who'd spread the salve over his burns came hurrying toward them saying, "_No_ visitors! I sent those other two away so you could _rest!_ You've got to lie still for a few hours before I can bandage you up, otherwise the gel won't work!"

With one last look at Octavian, who had leaned back against his pillows and was staring straight ahead with a look somewhere between thoughtful and disgruntled, Piper allowed herself to be ushered away from his bed toward the entrance to the tent and back out into the darkness beyond.

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><p><strong>It was kind of fun to imagine what was going on inside Octavian's head. He's kind of a bad guy in the book series, so I really wanted to redeem him somehow and get him to change a bit. We've got enough bad guys here, in my opinion, haha.<strong>

**So how about a review for the holiday weekend? I just finished Chapter 24 yesterday (which is probably my favorite chapter so far this book, though 21's a contender) and started 25, so next update will definitely be on Tuesday. I like the next chapter, too - get to focus a bit on the Aphrodite kids' views and abilities. It was fun to write.**

**Thanks, everybody! Happy Easter, if you celebrate, and later days!**

**-oMM**


	18. XVIII Piper

**Hello again! Average length chapter this time. Pretty fun, though. Especially the end...**

**Thanks everybody for reading and reviewing! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XVIII<br>PIPER**

As Piper walked aimlessly across the camp, she couldn't help feeling like the conversation she'd just had with Octavian seemed oddly surreal, almost like a dream. She had a funny inkling that the things he'd told her had been secrets he hadn't told anyone else—and wouldn't ever have mentioned had he not been under the influence of injury and charmspeak. She didn't know Octavian well, but anyone could see that he wasn't exactly the most personal of people. What would happen once he realized what she now knew, she couldn't begin to guess.

Despite that, though, Piper didn't regret what she'd done. The fact of the matter was that while Reyna was away with Leo and Nico, Jason and Octavian would have to work together whether they liked it or not. Hopefully, what she'd said to Octavian had helped to convince him of this fact; if so, the only problem would be Jason. Piper wasn't sure if she had the right to tell him what she'd learned, but the greater good _was_ at risk. If Jason understood that Octavian wasn't actually trying to undermine him for selfish reasons, maybe he wouldn't be so antagonistic. In different ways, Jason and Octavian both wanted the same thing. They only needed to see that.

Without her having realized it, Piper's feet had carried her to her cabin—it seemed, by now, a force of habit—and as she opened the door and stepped over the threshold she collided face-first with someone heading out.

"Whoa!" a voice shouted in alarm as Piper grabbed the doorknob to keep from losing her balance—a fate which the other body was unfortunately unable to avoid.

"Sorry, Mitchell!" Piper said hurriedly as she registered the sight of her half-brother lying in a heap on the cabin floor and moved immediately to help him to his feet. "I was spacing out. Not paying attention."

"No worries," Mitchell assured her with a quick smile. "Hey, you haven't seen Drew around anywhere, have you?"

Piper frowned, trying to remember if their sibling had been present during Jason and Octavian's confrontation. "No, I don't think so," she decided. "Why?"

"She was supposed to help me organize storage shed epsilon," Mitchell explained, scratching the back of his neck and rolling his eyes, "but she never showed. She's been trying to get out of it for days, so I shouldn't be surprised. But everybody's gotta pull their weight around here so you can bet I'll be coming up with another job for her to make up for it. Thing is, I can't find her anywhere. She's getting way too good at avoiding me."

Piper felt a wry smile tug at her lips. As the Aphrodite cabin's second-oldest member, Mitchell had been placed in charge of keeping inventory on their equipment sheds and ensuring that everything remained in its proper place when Drew had turned the job down. He'd been evenly fair in divvying out work, but their former senior counselor continually made every effort to avoid doing her share. It wasn't as though Drew was against organization and cleanliness—more likely she felt that the work was beneath her.

"Good luck," Piper said sympathetically, shaking her head and stepping aside to let her brother through the doorway. After he'd waved and walked past her, she turned with a sudden inspiration and called, "Mitchell!" When he stopped and looked back, she bit her lip and asked, "Can I… ask your advice on something?"

He raised his eyebrows. "_My_ advice?" Though he was a year older than Piper and had known he was a demigod for far longer than she had, he seemed surprised that she would be asking his help, what with her being cabin head and all. But the fact of the matter was that many of her siblings still had a lot more understanding when it came to matters of the heart than she did, despite their shared parentage, and when she nodded in response to his question he shrugged and answered, "Sure, I guess."

Once he'd followed her into their empty cabin, she closed the door and sat down heavily on her bed in the corner. "It's Jason," she said at once, deciding to get straight to the point before she chickened out. "As I'm sure you've noticed, things are… off, between him and me."

"We're in a war," Mitchell pointed out, leaning back against a dresser between two boys' beds across the room and shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Things are bound to be messed up for a while."

"But that's just it," Piper argued. She drew her legs up onto her bed and crossed them in front of her, trying to decide how best to get her thoughts out. "I feel like… now more than ever it's important to stand together, to focus on… I don't know, love and caring and all that." She hated how cheesy that sentiment sounded, but to her relief Mitchell didn't make fun of her. He only frowned and jerked his head, sweeping his hair—an attractive mixture of at least six shades of brown—out of his eyes.

"The thing about war," he said, "is it heightens _all_ emotions, not just positive ones. It intensifies our outlook on certain events, like… like everything's cast in this harsh light that overloads your senses. The good seems better, and the bad seems worse." His hazel eyes slid up to meet her multicolored ones. "You look at this war and see what it can give us—that we're united against the same enemy, and if we work together we'll come out okay. But a lot of people look and only see what it's taken away. Our safety, security, normalcy… the lives of people we love. For children of Aphrodite, seeing the beauty in things comes naturally to us—no matter how dark and ugly the situation. But for everyone else, it isn't as easy. They don't see the world like we do."

Piper had never thought about it that way before. She had always been on the optimistic side, unlike a few of her friends, but not once did she attribute that as another facet of her mother's legacy. She'd always assumed it was just a simple personality trait. But when Mitchell spelled it out the way he did, it made sense. It explained why so many people around her didn't seem to understand as readily as she did that the only way to win this war was to stay positive and to stand together. It also explained why the war made her feel so distant from Jason—like they were watching from opposite sides of a window. In a way, they actually were. The only question was whether or not that window was one she could open.

"When you put it like that, it sounds like… there's nothing I can do," she said a bit glumly, shrugging her shoulders in a hopeless gesture. "It's not like I can use charmspeak to alter personalities."

"I wouldn't say there's _nothing_ you can do," Mitchell argued, tilting his head to the side. "It just won't be easy. True, charmspeak can't outright change a person's fundamental point of view, but if you really know them, there are other ways you can bring them around."

Mind flashing back to her conversations that day with Gwen and Octavian, Piper shifted on her bed and said carefully, "Hey, can Aphrodite's kids like… see into people's minds, ever?" Realizing how stupid that sounded, she added hastily, "I don't mean like psychic mind-reading, I mean like… Well, I was talking to some people earlier today who were kind of down and it was like I knew exactly the right thing to say, you know? I guess I was just wondering if that was… normal."

She was fully prepared for Mitchell to stare at her like she was crazy, but to her surprise he smiled. "Don't worry, you're not _that_ much of a freak," he assured her, and she made a face at him. "Aphrodite has the ability to empathize with people—to see exactly what they want and, in a lot of cases, what they need to hear. It's one of the things we inherit from her. It's stronger in some of us than others, and I've seen it used in all kinds of ways. Remember that rite of passage tradition you stamped out? That was when I… you know, got the hang of it."

He shuffled his feet, suddenly looking a bit uncomfortable, and Piper tried not to frown in disapproval. She remembered Cabin Ten's so-called 'rite of passage', alright. Before she'd arrived, the generally-accepted thing for Aphrodite's children to do was to get someone to fall in love with them and then break their heart. As far as she knew, she was the only one aside from another former senior counselor, Silena Beauregard, to refuse to do something so horrible. It was no longer required, as Piper had abolished the tradition immediately upon overthrowing Drew's tyrannical leadership, but sometimes she forgot that almost all of her cabin-mates had already done it—had pointlessly broken the heart of someone who'd thought they were in love. Mitchell, evidently, was no exception.

"Anyway," he said quickly, eyeing Piper's tightly-closed mouth and obviously fishing for a change of subject, "it can really come in handy when you need to reach out to somebody. In some ways, it's even more useful than charmspeak—though, to be fair, I guess I don't really know firsthand what that's like."

Piper chuckled. "A blessing and a curse," she offered, thinking on how her ability to use charmspeak had gotten her both into and out of a lot of scrapes in the past.

Mitchell gave an amused smile. "You should know," he said as his expression grew serious again, "it only works if you really _want_ to help. If part of you is still angry with Jason when you try to talk to him, you'll have a rough time of it."

Piper sighed shortly. "Of course there's a catch."

"I wouldn't worry. You wouldn't be going to so much trouble if you didn't want to make things right. It may take a little time, but you'll get there. I've seen you guys together before the war—I know you care about each other. Trust me, it'll work out."

An unconscious smile pulled at Piper's lips as a warm rush of gratitude relaxed the uncomfortable tension in her shoulders. "Thanks, Mitchell," she said. "I hope you're right." When he grinned, a thought struck her, and with a bemused frown she pointed an accusing finger at him and asked, "Wait, did you just use that heart-reading, empathy thing on me?"

He laughed, running a hand through his highlighted hair as he stepped away from the dresser. "Doesn't mean I don't believe it," he replied matter-of-factly. "Anyway, I really should track down our favorite former leader. Let me know how it goes, okay?"

"Sure thing," Piper promised with a smile. "Thanks for your help." He inclined his head and flashed her a friendly grin before letting himself out of the cabin, snapping the door closed behind him and leaving her alone.

With a heavy sigh, Piper lied back and stretched out on her bed, staring at the ceiling and letting Mitchell's words sink fully into her brain. If what he'd said was true, she needed to be sure that all of her anger toward Jason had faded before she could hope to get through to him. But was she ready for that? When his name crossed her mind, her initial feelings were sadness and longing, but beneath them there were definite embers of frustration with the selfish way he'd been acting. Maybe it wouldn't be as easy at she'd been hoping.

But the more she thought about it, the more she herself began to feel selfish. They were in a war. Everyone was working harder than ever to make sure they would be ready in case trouble hit. Many of their campers risked their lives on a daily basis, fighting battles and leaving camp on recruitments missions. Leo, Reyna, and Nico had just undergone an extremely dangerous quest for just the small chance of gaining an advantage over Nyx and Erebos. And here she was, worrying about her love life. Did she really have the right to spend so much time and energy on this one thing, or should she wait until after the war to try and make things right? Gods knew it would certainly be easier.

Piper turned over on her side, feeling more troubled than ever. As her eyes swept over the empty room, they landed resolutely on her bedside table, in which she hid the prophetic dagger she'd carried with her during the Giant War last summer. On a whim, she leaned up from the mattress and reached toward it, pulling open the top drawer and extracting the long, white sock that held the ancient parazonium, Katoptris.

When she slid the fabric away, the eighteen-inch triangular blade glowed faintly in the dim lighting. The sock slipped from Piper's fingers as she straightened the knife, eyes going to the polished bronze surface. Her reflection stared back at her, worry and anxiety clear in the face that looked so much older than she thought it ought to. Since the start of the war, she'd avoided gazing over the blade for fear of its showing her more of the same sort of horrible images she'd seen a year ago. She wasn't sure what had possessed her to bring it out now of all times—maybe the guilt of her selfish worries was drawing out an abnormally strong desire to learn anything that might provide some value to the people around her. If that _had_ been her unconscious intention, however, she was out of luck—her reflection disappeared as it often did, but all she saw was an ominous, swirling blackness.

She breathed out slowly, unsure whether to be relieved or disappointed, and was about to replace the dagger in its sock-sheath when a low, whispery voice brushed her eardrums. If she hadn't been inside her quiet cabin, she would have passed it off as the wind or a rustle of clothing. But as it was, everything around her was still and silent—and the whisper had come from the blade in her hands.

Piper gasped sharply and grew perfectly still, her grip frozen around the weapon's wooden hilt and her eyes glued to the bronze metal, ears straining against the silence. Not a second later, she heard it again—louder this time, though she could only decipher one word: "_…King…"_

Piper's eyes were staring so hard at the shadows shifting across the reflective surface of the blade that she wouldn't have been surprised if they popped from her head. She couldn't see anything, but when another voice sounded it wasn't a whisper, and it was one whose owner she had no trouble recognizing.

"_Let go of me! Who do you think you are?"_

Before she could get over the shock, a different voice answered it—deep and raspy, snake-like:

"_Ssssilence, girl! Before I sssslice your tongue!"_

And then snippets of speech, layered over one another so that Piper had a difficult time separating them into distinct thoughts:

"_Well done. This will please the King."_

"_What could he possssibly want with thissss one?"_

"_It matters not who we bring. The King only requires bait."_

"_Why could we not just bring the boy?"_

"_No, the King was clear. He must come of his own accord. He _must_ choose the darkness. But you know as well as I—he will do anything to save his friends."_

A low chorus of rumbling laughter interrupted and then faded to silence. The swirling darkness vanished, and Piper was left staring wide-eyed at her own reflection, breathing much too fast and wondering whether she should run after Mitchell to tell him that she'd just found Drew Tanaka.

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><p><strong>DUN DUN <em>DUNNNN<em>! What? It's been a while! Haha ;)**

**Leave me a review, dears, and I'll see you Friday with the return of our quest team! Later days!**

**-oMM**


	19. XIX Leo

**Hello there! Happy Friday! As promised, it's time to see what's up with our quest team. Short chapter, but an important one. Thanks to those of you that reviewed for me! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XIX<br>LEO**

He never thought he'd say it, but Leo was sick of fire.

He'd had enough. You'd think it would've happened sooner, given the fact that he'd been able to summon fire at will all his life. But before, it was different. Fire was a tool—an ally, even. He'd grown used to it, like it was just an extension of himself. But now, there was just something about being burned alive every time he closed his eyes that sort of negated that feeling of security, funnily enough. And the feeling that replaced it wasn't one that could be easily forgotten or ignored.

Fear. That's what fire was to him now, fear. He could use it if the situation was dire enough, as he'd had to in their brief fight against Moros and his ghost dogs, but it wasn't the same. His reflexes were slower, his instincts clouded. It made him more angry and frustrated than he would've thought humanly possible, and he would give just about anything to return things to the way they used to be. But first, he'd have to somehow conquer the dream—and seeing as it barely gave him time to think, that was a task much easier said than done.

The morning after their encounter with Moros was no exception. Leo didn't remember falling asleep, or what happened beforehand for that matter. The dream surfaced like it had been there all along—like it was the truth and what he'd thought had been reality was the real dream the whole time. Evil black fire—consuming the air and blocking his vision so all he could see through it were those two white-gold pinpricks of light that were the eyes of the Queen of Night. They seemed to illuminate her face with a pale, ghostly glow, framed by midnight-blue hair and adorned with a cruel smile.

Her lips began to move, forming words that echoed in Leo's mind, "_You will not escape this prison of flame, little hero. All you can do is burn._"

Leo wanted to scream and charge at her, but the fire gnawing at his skin refused to allow it. The pain and lack of oxygen were making him dizzy and light-headed. He had to be seconds away from death—from the end of the dream. Every time, Nyx's voice seemed to trigger a reaction in the flames, like they were calling out to her, and the blaze was the final burst that mercifully succeeded in waking him up.

But this time was different. The goddess raised her arms and the fire responded obediently—rising and roaring as if cheering its master. Now on his knees with no memory of having gotten there, Leo squeezed his watering eyes shut and willed himself to wake—but he didn't. The fire burned on, and the agony didn't stop.

And then somehow, through the haze of pain, Leo heard a voice—a voice that spoke in his mind, like Nyx's, but was otherwise so different from hers in every way. Deep, gruff, and harsh—far-off like someone was yelling at him from half a mile away. He only understood fragments: "_…air…flame…tect…them…_"

Who was talking, and what were they trying to say? For some reason, it seemed more important than anything that Leo hear the stranger's message. He ducked his head low and tried to block out the sound and feel of the burning black fire, retreating inside his own mind and praying to anything and everything for help. And this time when the voice called out to him, he heard every word:

"_You're the heir of fire! My flames will protect you! Use them! NOW!_"

Leo knew that voice. He could count the number of times he'd heard it on one hand, but he _knew_ it. And he trusted it despite everything. _My flames will protect you. Use them._ So that was what he had to do.

It took all of Leo's dwindled willpower and concentration to call the fire that had always come so easy to him. He opened his eyes and peered through the dark flames at Nyx, who was watching him with an amused expression. With a spurt of defiance, he imagined her trapped like he was in a swarm of alien flames, and miraculously the intense burning sensation vanished as bright orange and gold fire swelled to life around him, consuming every tongue of its black and blue brother.

The smirk wiped itself clean from Nyx's face in an instant, replaced with a furious snarl. She spread her hands and let out a hideous shriek as dark fire ignited all around her and she rose from the ground, charging toward Leo with her fingers outstretched—

With a surprised yell, Leo sat bolt upright, coughing and choking as liquid tried to fill his throat. He spit out a mouthful of what looked and tasted like ordinary water as the last fleeting vision of the Queen of Night, cloaked in dark flames, flashed and faded from his mind. His head ached and his skin still tingled like he was being poked with pins and needles, but he was alive.

Alive, and soaking wet.

Raising his head and shaking his dripping hair out of his eyes, Leo realized that he was sitting on a forest floor, surrounded by broken trees and torn up dirt. A few yards behind him sat the unmoving, damaged form of Festus the dragon, and right in front of him stood Nico and Reyna. Gaze moving from the alarmed looks on their faces to the empty water jugs by their feet to the dark and crisped patch of grass around him, Leo groaned in understanding.

"Let me guess," he said dully, leaning forward and pressing the heels of his hands against his forehead, "preventing forest fires? Smokey the Bear would be proud of you guys."

"Is catching fire in your sleep normal for you?" Nico said dryly, eyeing Leo suspiciously as though expecting him to spontaneously combust again.

"No," Leo admitted. "I think it was the dream… Don't worry, though, it shouldn't happen again. Although, maybe just to be safe I'll stay awake for a while."

"What kind of dream?" Reyna asked, a slight edge to her voice.

"Nothing to worry about," Leo assured her with a smile. "No real-life demigod dream or anything. Just your run-of-the-mill nightmare." He kept his voice light, but Reyna frowned in response as though she wasn't entirely convinced. Grasping for a change of subject, Leo asked them, "What happened with Moros?"

They exchanged a glance. "What's the last thing you remember?" Nico replied.

Scratching his head, Leo answered, "Um… we led him to that graveyard. And then… I don't know, it gets sort of fuzzy."

"Well, we beat him," Reyna reported. "He won't be bothering us again."

"How's your head?" Nico asked. "You've been out for hours."

"A bit sore still, but better. I'll be fine." More importantly, the news that he'd been asleep for that long was hardly welcome. They didn't exactly have all the time in the world to complete their quest. "Guess I'd better get started on Festus," Leo decided, climbing to his feet. He shook the loose water from his arms and realized that his clothes were now dotted with ashy holes. "Hmm… Maybe a change of wardrobe first. I was never one for the grunge look."

"Anything we can do to help?" Reyna asked, still looking sideways at Leo like she knew he was hiding something.

"I appreciate the offer, but letting you two near the control panel for a sixteen-foot automaton has 'bad idea' written all over it." With a smirk at their twin scowls, Leo said, "Think I'd better take this one alone. That is, if you want it done sometime today."

"Whatever you say," Nico said with a shrug. He bent down to pick up two of the empty water jugs, which must have come from their supplies. "We should get these refilled at that stream back there. Let me know if you need to go into town for anything."

"Sure thing."

As Nico disappeared into the trees, Reyna cast one last thoughtful look at Leo before following with the remainder of the jugs, leaving Leo alone to repair their ride and wonder what it meant that his father's voice had suddenly entered his dream and helped him overcome Nyx's evil fire.

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><p><strong>Hark, a new development! Whatever could this mean? Could this finally be the end of Leo's nightmares? Find out next time on another episode of "WTF Is oMM Doing?" right here on ff-net!<strong>

**Update should be Tuesday. I'm making really good progress - just finished writing chapter 27 about an hour ago! 25-27 is a really good narration set, in my opinion, heh heh. Can't wait 'til you get to read it!**

**Later days, gang!**

**-oMM**


	20. XX Leo

**Hi, gang! Happy Monday! Well, you know, as happy as a Monday can be. Especially if you've got a killer headcold like I do. So here's an update to try and brighten everybody's day a little bit :) I could definitely use it, at least.**

**Thanks to all of you, as always! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XX<br>LEO**

Leo had spent so much time working on Festus in the past year that it had become like a second nature to him. Upon more detailed inspection, the collision damage wasn't as bad as it appeared from the outside. Sure, most of the dragon's hide was dented or scratched. And okay, he was missing an eye and a chunk of his tail. And the only sound he could make was a dull, oily sort of gurgle. But inside everything was more or less intact, for which Leo was extremely grateful. A lot more complex equipment went into the dragon's internal control mechanism and hyper-cooling hydraulic power containment chamber, and if pressed Leo wasn't at all sure that he could find the proper replacements in the nearest Indiana city.

But as it was, no part of the system was damaged beyond simple repair. The most time-consuming task was actually banging out the dents in the bronze and covering the few gaping tears with whatever scrap metal he could get his hands on in town. But those tasks hardly required much concentration, which left Leo with more than enough time to think about that last dream, and what it might have meant.

It was different from the rest, that much was obvious. Before, he'd always woken up after Nyx had spoken to him. It was like her voice triggered something in his mind that forced it back to the realm of consciousness. But this time, it hadn't happened that way. The dream had continued—and why, he had no idea.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. He did have _one_ idea—his father. It had been Hephaestus' voice that had called out to him in the dream, he was sure of it. The god had told him that his fire would protect him, and it had. Apparently, Nyx's black flames were no match for the power of the god of fire—the power that Leo had inherited. Had Hephaestus made the dream continue so he could give Leo that advice, or had he been trying all along and the dream had just never gotten that far?

Either way, it raised an important and slightly unnerving question: Why did Leo's father find it necessary to tell him how to fight Nyx's fire? Was it just so that he wouldn't be a slave to the fear the recurring dream brought him? Was it so that he could summon his own fire again without flinching away from it? Or—and Leo hoped more than anything that this wasn't the case—was he meant to come across this dark fire in real life? Did Hephaestus want his son to be prepared for something he knew he was soon to face?

This called to mind what Nyx had said in the dream—the jibe about escaping a 'prison of flame'. Wasn't there a similar line in Rachel's prophecy—_'sleep entombed in fiery jail'_? What if that line meant that one day Leo's nightmare would come true—that Nyx would trap him in a prison of flame? Summoning his fire to free himself was difficult enough in the dream; he had a feeling it would be even harder in reality.

Leo was so wrapped up in thought he didn't hear the approaching footsteps later that afternoon, and when a voice behind him asked, "How's it coming?" he jumped so high he smacked his head on the inside roof of Festus's cargo chamber.

Swearing under his breath in Spanish as his eyes started to water, Leo climbed out of the cargo chamber, from inside which he'd been welding a piece of scrap metal over a particularly large slice through the dragon's left flank, and twisted around on his knees. Reyna was standing behind him with her arms crossed, eyes surveying the automaton as if assessing his progress.

"It'd go a lot faster without any additional head injuries," he responded wryly, rubbing the stinging back of his head.

Reyna's eyebrows rose a fraction of an inch. "Maybe you should be more careful," she said matter-of-factly.

A few choice replies sprang to Leo's mind, but he bit them back and looked away. What was she doing here, anyway? He'd told her and Nico that he didn't need any help. And since when was she alright being alone with him anywhere? Nico had said she'd seemed worried about him earlier. Well, if she was here to pry information out of him, she'd be leaving disappointed. He'd told her about the dream once, and the aftereffects had been astronomically unpredictable and—in retrospect—disastrous. He wouldn't be making that mistake again.

"I'll be done in another hour or so," he said after a slightly electric silence, remembering again his decision to try and be as normal as he could with Reyna. "We should be back in the air before you know it." Reyna nodded, eyes still traveling over the mass of metal behind Leo. When she didn't move, he looked sideways at her and said, "You don't have to stick around, you know. I don't usually work with an audience." She breathed out sharply and her mouth twisted sideways, like she didn't believe that for a second. But still, she didn't move or speak.

Irritated, Leo stood up and asked, "Where's Nico?"

"Off in the forest. He didn't say, but I think he's keeping a lookout for any more of Nyx's pets."

Leo was about to suggest that she'd be more help to Nico than she would to him when her eyes shifted to meet his and she asked abruptly, "What was your dream about?"

He tried not to scowl. So that was it after all. "Like I said, it was nothing important. Just a nightmare. Not exactly gonna help us find Hypnos. Why so interested?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

She seemed to tense a bit, her gaze intensifying, and before he could be glad about catching her off guard she responded, "Because I can tell you're lying."

Leo felt the smirk slide from his face. Before the war, Annabeth had told him that he and Reyna had one major thing in common—both of them hid their emotions and fears behind masks. Evidently, these masks didn't seem to work as well on others like them.

"Look," he said firmly after a short pause, "I don't want to talk about it, okay? And honestly, I'm surprised you even care. You've been avoiding me ever since that night last month and you won't tell the truth any more than I will. You want to know what's going on in my head but I don't think you even know what's in yours—"

"Let's have a sparring match," Reyna interrupted suddenly, a vaguely anxious and uncomfortable look in her eyes.

"What?" Leo asked blankly, staring a bit dumbfounded at the sword she'd drawn without his noticing. "You're kidding, right?"

But her expression refuted that assumption immediately. "One-on-one. Come on."

"I don't think so."

"Afraid?"

"Yeah!" Leo stared at Reyna, not quite believing what he was hearing. "I've seen you fight. No offense, but you're pretty ruthless. And I like all my limbs the way they are, thanks."

"Not to the death," Reyna said with an air of impatience. "I just want to see if you're still any use in a fight."

Despite the fact that Leo had been worrying over this himself recently, hearing her say it made it sound particularly offensive. He wasn't going to fight her to prove anything. That may have been her MO, but it sure wasn't his. "I don't fight with a sword," he said a bit lamely, eyeing the weapon she held at the ready.

"Then I won't, either," she answered surprisingly, tossing the sword aside and instead drawing a golden dagger. "I'll use this. You can use anything from that tool belt, even fire if you want."

Now this was just getting amusing. She was actually that desperate for a fight? "You really think you're that much better than me?" he asked dryly. "Look, I've got to finish fixing Festus. You want to get out of here, don't you?"

"You can spare a few minutes. This won't take long."

Leo rolled his eyes, turning resolutely back toward the dragon. "Ooh, confidence. Scary."

"How about this?" Reyna persisted. "If you lose, you tell me about your dream."

Leo froze. So _that_ was her angle. She believed without much doubt that she could beat him and wanted to use that as the perfect excuse to get him to talk to her. He still didn't fully understand why she cared so much, but it was clear now that she wasn't backing down anytime soon. He needed a plan, and fast.

Not keyed in on Leo's thought process, Reyna continued without pause, "And if I lose…"

She trailed off thoughtfully as an idea suddenly struck him, and before she could come up with anything he finished, "You tell me why you really came on this quest."

Reyna visibly tensed, her fingers tightening on the hilt of her dagger. "I told you why," she said in a voice of obviously-forced calm. "This affects—"

"You told me a believable excuse," Leo corrected her, turning fully to face her and eyeing her with a small smirk. "You forget, Reyna—I can spot a cover story just as well as you can. We're liars, you and me. And liars can't fool each other."

She was quiet for a long minute, staring him down as if looking for weakness or trying to see if he was bluffing. She must not have found what she was looking for, though, because she finally said stiffly, "Fine. So do we have a deal?"

Leo's eyes flitted to the blade of Reyna's dagger. Part of him insisted that fighting her—friendly or otherwise—would be a bad idea that was likely to end in serious injury and, if this bet was followed through, his being forced to spill the beans. But on the other hand, if by some chance he did beat her, he could finally get to the bottom of why she'd suddenly joined this journey after a month of mysterious, cold indifference. She was offering him the use of his tool belt _and_ his fire. Surely with both he might have a shot. So was it worth it?

"Alright, Your Highness," he decided with a grin. "You're on."

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><p><strong>Know what comes to mind? That gif of the guy with the chair that's like "Dis gon b gud" hahaha (If you don't know what I mean, google 'dis gon b gud'. Seriously, haha).<strong>

**Next chapter was so much fun to write. I'll throw it up Thursday or Friday. Want it sooner rather than later? Then drop me a review and tell me! Enough of 'em might change my mind.**

**Later days!**

**-oMM**


	21. XXI Leo

**Hey, gang! Look at the length of this chapter: almost 5,000 words. I enjoyed writing this one. It runs the emotional gambit, haha.**

**Something to point out before we dive in—I'm sure most of you know this, but on the off chance anyone doesn't, remember that _reina_—the Spanish spelling of Reyna's name—means 'queen'. Just keep that in mind.**

**Thanks to those of you who reviewed last chapter! Love you guys! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XXI<br>LEO**

Reyna moved like lightning. The instant the words 'You're on' left Leo's mouth, she darted forward, aiming her dagger at his left side. He leapt out of the way in alarm, not having expected her to act so quickly and without warning. In retrospect, he really should have seen it coming. This was Reyna, after all; since when did she put up a sign before doing anything?

Unsurprisingly, her recovery time was impressive. She spun sideways seemingly without a thought and aimed a kick at Leo's feet. He jumped to avoid being knocked to the ground and then had to lean back to dodge another swipe of her blade. He caught a glimpse of the look on her face as he did so and noted the angry, resolute hardness in her eyes. Fine. If serious was what she wanted, serious was what she'd get.

Feeling adrenaline start to rush through his veins as he tried to relax and let instinct take over, Leo reached into his tool belt and pulled out a sixteen-inch L-form steel lug wrench in one hand and the two-foot, five-pound sledgehammer he'd used earlier to bang out some of the smaller dents in Festus's metal hide in the other. Reyna's eyes flitted to the tools as he flipped the wrench in his hand but her expression didn't change, and in no time she was on the offensive again. She surged forward and aimed a quick jab of her knife, but this time Leo blocked it, a metallic _clang_ ringing through the air as the blade collided with the steel wrench in his left hand. He used his arm to shove hers aside, creating an opening, and swung the hammer at her legs. She twisted to the side, shifting her dagger in her hand and aiming a backhanded slice that tore Leo's sleeve and barely grazed his left arm just below the shoulder.

The cut was hardly anything, but drawing first blood seemed to empower Reyna. Her eyes gleamed with energy and she spun in a circle, slashing out again with, if possible, even greater speed than before. Leo intercepted her blade with his wrench just in time, not altogether blocking it but causing the knife to glance off sideways, missing him entirely. Unfortunately, this left him open to her next move, which was to swing her left leg out and knock his feet out from under him. He landed on his back on the ground and rolled instinctively out of the way as she threw her dagger at the place in which he'd been lying.

Thinking that that had been a bit on the dangerous side and realizing that both his tools had disappeared from his hands, Leo rolled again to put more distance between himself and Reyna before coming up into a crouch and spinning to face her as she moved to pull her knife from the dirt. A little miffed that she could very well have just stabbed him, he pressed his hand flat against the ground and without a second thought willed it to catch fire. Bright orange flames danced to life on his hand and swept with lightning-speed across the ground in a thin, straight line—directly toward Reyna. She looked over and freed her dagger just in time to leap aside and avoid the fire, eyes widening in alarm.

There was something satisfying about his having surprised her. She'd outright said he could use whatever he wanted, hadn't she? So it wasn't like he was cheating. She'd asked for this. And he was determined not to let her win as easily as she'd been expecting to.

Moreover, something else also struck Leo as odd and strangely satisfying: that little trick with the fire hadn't brought on horrible visions of deadly black flames. He lifted his hand and looked experimentally at his palm. Nothing. He remembered the dream, but now that he knew he could beat it, it didn't have the same debilitating effect. An unconscious grin began to spread across his face at the thought. His father had helped him after all.

The momentary excitement was short-lived, however, because Reyna was back in action in no time. She charged forward and Leo barely had time to scramble to his feet before she'd swung her dagger backhanded again. He reached up and blocked it with his forearm, feeling a strange sort of jolt when his skin touched hers. She seemed to falter at the same time, allowing him to shove her arm aside and twist around, driving his elbow into her stomach. She hunched forward and grabbed his left shoulder with her free hand, pulling him backward and trying to knock him down, but her grip seemed unsecure. He reached up and placed his hand over hers, trying to ignore that same odd swooping sensation in his gut, and summoned just enough heat to hurt but not to burn. She jerked her hand away and took a few unsteady steps backward, and he spun around and chanced a glance at her face to see an unprecedented spark of fear in her eyes. The fingers on her left hand were shaking just barely and her grip on her dagger seemed to be faltering. She was staring at a spot on the ground, eyes a bit unfocused, looking distracted.

Taking the chance, Leo rushed toward Reyna and grabbed her right wrist, twisting her arm and once again building heat in his grip. She cried out in surprise and the dagger fell from her slackened grasp, allowing Leo to kick it out of reach. Looking frustrated but still strangely distracted, Reyna tore her arm savagely from his hand and spun in a circle, aiming a fast and hard kick at his ribs. He flinched as her ankle connected with his right side, but shifted and grabbed her leg in both hands before she could lower it and regain her balance. He could feel a heat rise in his skin that had nothing to do with fire as his fingers slid just above her knee, and she stiffened and stumbled, giving a small gasp. Gaze becoming more fierce and desperate, Reyna tilted forward as she tried not to fall and drove a fist hard into Leo's stomach. He doubled over with a grimace and his hold on her leg loosened, allowing her to free herself.

Her eyes flitted toward her dagger, but he didn't plan on giving her time to retrieve it. Still bent double, he staggered forward and shoved his shoulder against her stomach, forcing her off her feet. Her hands latched instinctively onto his shirt as she fell, pulling him with her, and they both landed in a heap on the ground. Leo had barely pushed himself up on his hands before Reyna had tackled him from the side, knocking him onto his back. He grunted in pain as his shoulder blades slammed against the hard ground and looked up just in time to duck the fist thrown at his face.

Above him, Reyna had a strange sort of look of fierce denial on her face. Time seemed to move in slow-motion as she pulled back her arm for another strike, and Leo summoned fire over his right forearm and slashed it between himself and Reyna like a kind of shield. She shouted in surprise and turned to the side, shutting her eyes and shielding her face from the heat. Extinguishing the fire, Leo grabbed Reyna's outstretched arm and yanked it sideways, causing her to fall down on top of him (which certainly didn't help alleviate that annoying jolted feeling in his chest and stomach). He shoved her to the side and pulled himself up from the ground, rolling to lean over her. He dug his knees into the ground on either side of her waist and used his left hand to pin her right arm to the dirt beside her head, forming a burning glove of fire over his right hand and holding it inches away from her throat.

Neither of them moved. Leo had no reason to, after all—he'd won. He had Reyna pinned and was poised to strike a killing blow, had this been a real fight. But the look of pure and utter surprise on Reyna's face was strange. He would have expected more anger, frustration—anything but that strangely lost, distracted expression. Looking at her eyes, Leo felt that same powerful pull, just like he had in the storage shed at Camp Half-Blood before they'd left the previous day. He realized his breathing was heavy after the exertion, matching that of the girl beneath him. Unexpectedly he thought suddenly of the night he'd first told her about his dream—the night she'd kissed him and then everything had gone to Hades. Now, for some reason, he was struck with the powerful urge to kiss her again. He remembered what it was like—how _right_ it had felt. And he _wanted_ to feel it again. He hadn't thought like that at all since the first time, and it brought on such a sense of shock and a hint of fear that all he could do was stare frozen at her eyes—eyes that continued to stare back at him with the wildest mix of emotions he'd ever seen.

The fire had vanished from Leo's hand without his having realized it. Its disappearance seemed to shake him forcibly back into reality, and with enormous difficulty he tore his gaze from Reyna's and blinked rapidly. He released his hold on her and climbed to his feet, swallowing hard and shaking his head in an effort to return the situation to some form of normalcy. As he did so, the facts started to sink in—he'd _won_. Reyna had been so sure she could beat him and force him to tell her about his dreams, but she'd _lost_. Okay, so she'd been a bit flustered and distracted for a while there, and maybe he'd taken advantage of that, but was it his fault if she couldn't handle a little emotional confusion? Of course not. That'd teach her to try and get things out of him by force.

As Reyna stood and brushed off the front of her jeans, still looking vaguely dumbfounded, Leo turned toward her with a grin. "Would you look at that," he said lightly. "_La reina_ isn't quite as all-powerful as she thinks she is."

Immediately, Leo realized that this was the _wrong_ thing to say. The effect on Reyna was instantaneous—her eyes cleared and widened with intense malice, her lip curling in a furious snarl. Both her hands clenched tightly into fists and her neck snapped toward Leo so fast he was surprised her head didn't fall from her shoulders. His grin slid away as she ran straight for him, looking so much like she'd just been possessed by a demon that he was momentarily frozen in fear. When he could move again, he scrambled backward in an attempt to escape whatever unholy death she was planning to give him, but as luck would have it he only ended up tripping on the uneven ground. He fell and landed flat on his back, and had barely leaned up on his elbows before Reyna pounced on him from above, digging her knee into his stomach. She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and shoved his head and shoulders hard against the dirt, and he momentarily forgot his struggle for freedom as stars exploded across his vision. He blinked hard and achieved enough focus to see Reyna pulling her other hand back above her head while her eyes burned with obvious murderous intent. The strange thing was, though—there were tears in them.

"I'm sorry!" Leo yelped hurriedly, throwing both arms over his face in an effort to protect it from what was sure to be a very painful blow. "It was just a joke!"

Thankfully, the subsequent attack never came. The pressure of Reyna's leg vanished, along with her hold on Leo's shirt, and he slowly lowered his arms to see her already on her feet and walking curtly away with her back to him.

Leo realized his nerves were on overdrive. What just happened? Reyna's expression just now had been very different than it was during the short fight they'd just had—even at the beginning, when she'd been so sure and serious. Was that joke he'd said to try and diffuse the awkward tension really that bad? Did it get to her that much? He barely even remembered what he'd said. Something was definitely going on with her, a lot more than she was letting on. If that was true, though, she might have been even better than he was at hiding it.

"Looks like a draw," Reyna said stiffly, turning rigidly to the side and staring resolutely at the ground. She sheathed her dagger at her hip with much more force than was necessary. "No one wins. We should get back to work."

Apparently, she wasn't as keen on learning his secret anymore and only wanted to get as far away from him as possible. But she'd had her shot, and now it was his turn. She wasn't getting away that easily.

"Reyna," he said firmly as she turned to leave, and she stopped dead-still. He climbed slowly to his feet, straightening the wrinkled collar of his shirt. "Something's bothering you. And don't even try to deny it after that little show." Voice softening just barely, he finished, "Tell me what's up."

She didn't respond, and to be frank he couldn't blame her. After all, he'd refused to answer her questions. What reason did she have to answer his? Maybe he was going about this whole thing the wrong way. If he wanted her to trust him, then didn't he have to show her that she could? Didn't he first have to trust her?

Flashes of the many repetitions of his dream came to mind, ending in the last one—the one that had changed them all. He was still afraid, but it was different now. Was there really any point in keeping it secret anymore?

So taking a deep, steady breath, Leo finally said, "Dark fire."

Reyna turned around slowly, fixing him with serious eyes. "What?"

"My dream." He met her gaze unflinchingly, for once not hiding the anxious uncertainty Nyx had planted in him and letting it show on his face. "Remember the night before the eclipse, when…" She breathed in sharply and he explained quickly, "when I told you about the dream I had? The one with Nyx and that black fire?"

She seemed to relax a bit, looking thoughtful as she recalled the conversation. "You said… it burned. Even though fire never burns you."

Leo's fingers twitched by his sides as he remembered the horrible feeling, but again he didn't bother masking its effect on his mood. He felt his expression flinch in discomfort, and Reyna's eyebrows knitted in mild surprise. "Well," he went on, "I've been having the same dream ever since—more and more often. It's gotten to where every time I close my eyes, I see it. Fire is… one of the few things I thought I understood. But now that I've felt what it can do over and over again, it's… it's different. I'm… It scares me, okay? That's why I didn't want anyone to know." His gaze slid to the ground, but for some reason saying the words was easier than he'd thought it would be. "But the one this morning, it… changed. It went further and I… I heard my dad." He chanced a glance at Reyna to see if she thought this absurd, but her expression was still quietly attentive. "He told me that… his fire would protect me. So I used it against Nyx's fire and it worked, it disappeared. That was when you guys woke me up."

Reyna's frown deepened. "Does that mean… it's over?"

"I hope so," Leo said wryly with a weak chuckle. "This dream is… tearing into me, changing who I am. And I… I've been trying like heck to keep that from happening. It's why I haven't been sleeping, why I've been… I don't know, off, lately. I thought this quest would help me get back to normal, you know? Give me something to work for. And, well… Guess I wasn't that far off."

She stared at him, an uncharacteristic lack of hardness in her expression. It was like she could see all the pain the dreams had caused him and felt genuinely sorry for it. It was a bit odd, and made Leo slightly uncomfortable, but to be honest it was kind of nice to have everything off his chest—to have someone else who finally knew what he'd been going through.

"So you haven't… told anyone?" Reyna asked carefully, and Leo shook his head. She breathed out unsteadily. "I don't know… what to say to you."

"You don't have to say anything," Leo insisted. He hadn't been fishing for a pity-party, after all. "I'm not—"

But Reyna interrupted, "Yes, I do. You're not the kind of person who deserves to be in so much pain." Leo's eyebrows shot up—that was almost _nice_. She seemed to realize that she'd said something strange, because she sighed shortly and elaborated, "I just mean that… You've got friends, I know you do. People who care about you, could help you. People who deserve to know the truth—who deserve to be close to you. People _you_ care about."

"Why do you think I'm talking to you?" he responded without thinking. She sucked in her breath and a tiny flush colored her neck, and Leo shook his head quickly and backtracked, "I'm sorry—forget it. The bet, it was the bet. I didn't win. I'm just… following through."

He turned to the side, avoiding her eyes. That brief sparring match had brought back memories of the night at the Cloud Nine Hotel and proven to Leo one important fact—he had feelings for Reyna. It didn't make much sense, really. She was tough, serious—Roman to the core. She very rarely showed any sense of humor. The two of them looked at and handled things completely differently. But regardless, there was something that drew them together. He couldn't deny it now and was no longer annoyingly uncertain. Still, he wasn't entirely sure of Reyna's take on the situation, and no matter what she was feeling she seemed unwilling to acknowledge it. And he wasn't entirely convinced that now would be the right time to challenge that.

"I didn't win, either," Reyna said suddenly after a particularly long silence, and Leo had to quickly think back to what they'd been talking about.

He gave a half-shrug and admitted, "I guess, technically—"

"You were right."

With a frown, Leo turned to face Reyna. "About what?"

"Me." She took a slow breath, eyes dropping to the dirt. Her expression hardened, but Leo was comforted to know that this time her frustration didn't seem to be directed toward him. "I'm not all-powerful. I used to think I was strong, but… I couldn't have been more wrong. I'm weak, and confused, and none of this was ever supposed to happen to me."

"What are you talking about?"

"My _focus_." Her voice seemed to deepen with every word. "For years, everything I've done has been to protect the Legion. To keep them safe." Somehow, she sounded unsure—like she was trying to convince herself rather than stating a fact. "I trained myself to always place the camp first—before me, before everything. But then _one_ distraction comes along and all that work goes up in smoke."

"Distraction?" Leo repeated, confused. He'd been hoping his confession would prompt her to offer her own, but he wasn't really sure this answered his questions. "Look, if this is supposed to tell me why you volunteered for the quest—"

"I volunteered because one way or another, Nyx is going to pay for what she did. I'm going to see to that myself. It's the only way I can make up for what I did to New Rome."

"What _you_ did… You're kidding, right? I know you're not thinking—"

"I failed them!" she shouted, gaze snapping onto Leo's and making him flinch in alarm. "I let them die—I couldn't save them because I was distracted thinking about _you!_"

"_What? _Me?"

She spun to the side, crossing her arms. "Forget it."

"No!" Leo argued, walking around in front of her so she was forced to face him. "_That's_ what this is about? Reyna, what Nyx did to your camp was _not_ your fault. Are you seriously that high-and-mighty? You think you could have single-handedly taken down the Queen of Night and saved everybody? Sorry to break it to you, Your Highness, but you're not _that_ good. I don't care how many 'years of service' you put in to turn yourself into this almighty warrior. What happened to New Rome happened because Nyx was too much for _all_ of us. And pushing people away so you can take her on without any 'distractions' is only gonna get you killed, too. So here's an idea—let's try working _together_ so maybe we can keep any more people from getting hurt."

Reyna looked dumbstruck. She stared at Leo with her mouth slightly open, a blank look on her face as though her brain had stopped working altogether.

When she didn't immediately respond, he frowned and said, "What? Am I on fire again?" He glanced down for effect, but she still didn't speak—or even blink. It was starting to get creepy. Disconcerted, he waved a hand in front of her face and said, "Hello? Engineering to Queen Reyna? Any of this getting through?"

Finally she unfroze, eyebrows drawing together as she breathed out slowly. "Sorry," she said, "it's just… People don't usually…"

Leo laughed airily in disbelief. "Yell at you?" he guessed. "Yeah, well, maybe they should. You're human, Reyna. Just like me, just like everybody else. If you could see that, then… maybe you wouldn't put so much responsibility on yourself." He shook his head. What was it with the Roman praetors and trying to shoulder all the blame for a terrible accident that had been no one's fault but Nyx's? It was more than a little frustrating, to tell the truth. At least Reyna was handling it a _little_ better than Jason was. She wasn't quite so obvious.

"I guess… you're right," Reyna admitted, causing Leo to raise his eyebrows at her in mock surprise. She shot him a pointed look and went on, "I just… hate that I was so off my usual game that day. I didn't like the idea that something could have shaken me that much. Maybe if I'd fought at my best and still lost, the defeat would have been easier to accept. But just… knowing that I could have done better… made me feel that if I had, things would have been different."

"I'm not sure they would," Leo pointed out, stepping backward to lean against the still-unmoving form of Festus the dragon. "I was there that night, I saw what happened. I really don't think one person would have made a difference. Besides, from where I stood, you seemed just as tough and determined as ever, for what it's worth." The corner of her mouth twitched upward and he grinned, glad to see that some of the worried tension had seemed to leave her. Her words started to replay in his head and he said aloud, "And don't think I missed that slip about me being what distracted you during the eclipse. I think that warrants a bit of explanation, don't you?"

Her eyes widened a fraction of an inch in an expression of discomfort. She opened her mouth and was quiet for a few seconds, then breathed out resolutely and began, "I—"

"It can wait," Leo decided, realizing that now that things were relatively normal between them they really shouldn't risk messing it up again until the quest was over. If it worked, and they were able to wake the gods and get their help in winning the war, there would be plenty of time for talk at a later date. "Like you said yesterday, we've got more important things to worry about."

Reyna's eyes searched Leo's until her expression relaxed with guarded relief, lips stretching into a small smile that told him he'd said the right thing. She didn't say it, but he could tell that when the time came she would be willing to talk to him. Now just wasn't that time.

"I should get back to work," Leo said, tapping his knuckles against the bronze metal behind him. "You can stay if you want, but it's not that exciting. Time might be better spent checking to make sure Nico hasn't fallen down a well or something. I bet Lassie's off-duty during wartime."

She chuckled in response to the joke and he couldn't help a grin. "Alright," she agreed, moving to pick up the sword she'd challenged him with and replacing it among their piles of supplies. He'd barely turned around to get back to work when she called out, "Leo." When he straightened, she went on, "Thank you. For telling me about your dream."

"Thanks for listening," he responded lightly. "You were right. It… helps to tell a friend the truth."

After a beat, she replied, "Yeah, it does."

Leo turned away again, feeling particularly good about himself, and dropped to a crouch in front of Festus's cargo chamber. But he was once again interrupted before he could so much as pick up the tools he'd left behind earlier—this time by a loud, feral growl that broke through the dark silence. It didn't sound too close—a hundred yards or so away, at least—but still it caused the ground to rumble just noticeably and the leaves above his head to rustle as though brushed by wind. Alarmed, he sprang to his feet and whirled around. Reyna had yet to leave the crash site and was staring into the trees with an intense expression he could just make out from where he stood.

"Did you hear that?" he asked unnecessarily—it was obvious by her rigid stance that she had. She didn't answer, only stepped slowly back toward the dragon as her eyes scanned the forest around them.

"Of course they couldn't have just let us _leave_," she said bitterly, voice low.

Leo opened his mouth to respond, but froze when he heard a nearing series of rustling leaves and snapping branches. He spun toward the sound and almost had a heart attack when what burst through the trees a second later was none other than…

Nico.

But something was wrong. Nico looked anxious and out of breath, and had a hand latched tightly over his left shoulder. Beneath it, his black leather jacket looked dark and damp. Was that blood?

"Hey, guys," he greeted them with a sarcastic smile that immediately hardened to a glare. "We've got a problem."

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><p><strong>What's life without a few good cliffhangers? Heh heh.<strong>

**I've been writing a lot of fight scenes lately for this story. This is a pretty good stretch we're in right here. I love fight scenes, as any of you who've read my story Fire at Will can guess. Some good times comin' up soon.**

**Reviews? Pretty please? They make my day, honestly! Update should be early next week. Later days, gang!**

**-oMM**


	22. XXII Nico

**Hi gang! Tuesday again. Ready for some action?**

**Thanks to everybody who reviewed last chapter! Glad you all liked it! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XXII<br>NICO**

"Tell me the dragon's working."

Leo scowled at Nico. "The dragon has a name. And no, not quite yet."

Nico clucked his tongue in disappointment. "Well, then I hope you guys are up for some running." His grip tightened unconsciously over his shoulder as a painful twinge shot through the torn muscle. The scratch marks weren't that deep—nothing a little ambrosia wouldn't heal. More than anything, he was annoyed that he'd let his guard down. Though, all things considered, he probably should have just run straightaway when his watch had been interrupted.

"Are you gonna tell us what's going on?" Reyna demanded, drawing the gold dagger from her belt.

Nico opened his mouth to answer, but at that moment a deafening growl sounded behind him, making him flinch and Leo and Reyna jump in alarm. "I would," he said dryly, turning slowly to the sound of snapping wood, "but I think he can explain it better."

Right on cue, the tree nearest them was pushed over, roots pulling messily from the dirt, by a hulking, black shadow forcing its way into the crash site. The shadow snarled and climbed over the fallen tree, and Leo and Reyna both gasped in unison as they realized that they were now staring up at the form of a gigantic hellhound—a black boxer the size of a semi truck. Great globs of drool that could drown a squirrel fell from its bared jaws, sloshing to the ground around its huge front paws, each of which was armed with claws that were rather like full-size scimitars. It was larger even than Mrs. O'Leary, the hellhound Camp Half-Blood had inherited from her previous owner, Daedalus, but nowhere near as friendly.

For a minute it simply stood and stared at them, lowering its head and releasing a deep, rumbling growl. Nico and the others froze. He knew they would probably have to fight, seeing as the hound didn't appear to be the sort of thing you could outrun easily. But he didn't exactly relish the prospect. He'd lost his sword when the hellhound had first attacked him a few minutes ago, which left him with only his power over the dead to defend himself. Why couldn't they have just been left alone after Moros?

"Nice doggie," Leo said slowly as Reyna started backing carefully toward their piles of supplies. "You don't want to eat us. You want something with a little more meat on its bones. There's probably a nice deer or a moose or something around here."

Nico turned and raised an eyebrow at Leo. "A moose?"

Leo shrugged, eyes on the hellhound. "My wit's indirectly proportionate to the amount of danger I'm in. Still think running's an option?"

"Only if you feel like being tackled by thirty tons of monster. No way we can outrun it now it's seen us."

"I was afraid you'd say that."

The hellhound finally decided it was done taking the measure of its prey and let out a vicious roar before leaning back on its haunches and pouncing. Nico and Leo scrambled out of the way, diving to either side to avoid being crushed by the hound's weight. It landed where they'd been standing, its heavy paws digging deep into the dirt as it slid a few yards and bounded around, searching for its missing dinner.

By this time, Reyna had retrieved the golden sword she'd brought along and was edging around the hound's side, trying to stay out of its sight. She must have succeeded, because when she surged forward and buried her blade in its back right leg it didn't try to stop her. The dog howled and whipped its head toward the disturbance, snapping its jaws with alarming speed. Reyna let go of the sword, which appeared to be stuck in the hellhound's fur, and leapt backward out of the way just in time.

An intense heat suddenly appeared from Nico's right and he looked to see Leo, whose arms were bathed in fire, shooting a constant column of flame straight at the hound. It slammed into its side and forced it back a few feet. It snarled and tried to bite at the fire, but apparently it didn't like it much, and instead it swung its head and ducked to the ground, trying to avoid the blast.

While it was distracted, Nico dropped to a crouch and placed a hand against the dirt, deciding that if his own power was all he had then he might as well use it. He reached toward the Underworld with his mind, searching for souls that had died near the area (it was always easier that way, as they already had a connection to the world of the living; the disparate state of the Underworld would likely only hinder any attempt to summon souls that didn't belong). Closing his eyes and mentally reciting a brief incantation, Nico climbed slowly to his feet, feeling resistance against his arm as he pulled it upward like a heavy weight had just attached itself to his wrist. When he spread his hand, the dirt in front of him erupted from beneath as a small host of ethereal figures dressed in what looked like Civil War garb and holding rifles and muskets broke through. They all looked around confusedly until they spotted him, some of them nudging their neighbors and pointing his way.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Yeah, hey, how ya doin'," he said half-heartedly. "That hellhound over there? Stray. Not following orders. Gotta put it down."

"Put it down!" one of the undead soldiers repeated, saying it like a battle cry. He waved his musket over his head as the others answered in kind, recanting the phrase or just yelling incoherently. Nico tried not to roll his eyes again as they turned and charged the hound, which was now bounding in and out of the line of mostly-unbroken trees as it tried to dodge Leo's constant stream of fire.

When the soldiers rushed in to overtake the monster, Leo dropped his arms, looking exhausted. And Nico wasn't surprised. He'd never seen Leo keep up that much fire for such a long time. He staggered backward and dropped to his knees as the hellhound's full attention was drawn to the small army now surrounding it from all sides, and seemingly from nowhere Reyna appeared at his side within seconds. Leo looked up and gave her a weak smile.

Nico ran toward them. "We should get out of here while we can," he said once they were within earshot.

"And leave that thing within smashing distance of Festus?" Leo said. "Nuh-uh. Not happening."

"Well, we'd better do something fast, because I don't think—" Nico broke off and spun around at the sound of snapping wood to see the hellhound bowl over yet another tree as it slashed through over a half-dozen of the ghostly soldiers, all of whom fizzled and faded with dramatic cries. "…Those guys are gonna last," Nico finished dully.

"Then let's do something," Reyna decided, and gripping her dagger she rushed past Nico and into the group of undead.

"Wait—Reyna!" Nico called after her, frustrated. He spun back toward Leo, who was already on his feet, and said firmly, "Stay here."

But Leo shot back, "Yeah, right," and followed immediately after Reyna. Nico gave an exasperated growl and followed as the hellhound bit through another handful of spirits. The last dozen or so split into two teams and flanked the monster, which didn't seem to know which group to focus on and compromised by swinging its head back and forth between the two. It eventually decided on the group on its right just as Reyna reached the group on its left and pounced, flattening most of them beneath its claws and chomping the remaining few between its teeth. All of them faded to smoke.

While the hellhound was distracted trying to figure out where its prey had gone, the other group fired their weapons as one, dotting the monster's left flank with tiny bullet holes. It howled and turned its head as Reyna dashed through the soldiers and sliced her dagger across the hellhound's back left leg. Black dust poured from the wound and in a second it had spun around, snarling and flinging hail-like spit in all directions.

"Round two!" one of the soldiers shouted as they all raised their guns for the second time. "Fire!" The sound of gunfire split the air as another barrage of bullets pierced the hound, this time above the left shoulder. It opened its jaws and roared in displeasure, bathing Nico, Leo, and Reyna in monster drool. Reyna, who was closest, stumbled backward and collided with Nico, who staggered and grabbed her beneath the arms to keep her from knocking him to the ground. Leo stepped in front of the soldiers and raised an arm, shooting a thin stream of fire directly into the hellhound's left eye. It screeched in pain and swung its head dangerously, slashing out blindly with a paw. Leo threw himself onto the ground to avoid being smacked, but no one else was quite as lucky. The remaining soldiers were run through and disappeared, just before the hound's paw collided with Nico and Reyna, knocking them both into the air. They landed a few feet in front of the automaton dragon, Nico's injured shoulder dragging on the ground painfully.

With a groan, Nico sat up and glared across the clearing at Leo, who was back on his feet and looking apologetic. "Sorry!" he called to them an instant before Reyna shouted "Look out!" Leo spun around just in time to jump back and dodge a deadly snap of the hellhound's jaws, but the monster seemed to have decided that playtime was over. It followed the bite immediately with a lash of its claws, and the back of its paw slammed into Leo and sent flying backward with a surprised yell. His back hit a tree on the opposite side of the crash site from Nico and Reyna and he slid to the ground.

The hellhound turned its attention to the others. Reyna was eyeing the sword still stuck in its back right leg and Nico was really wishing he had his own right about now. Before he could think of a plan, the hound pounced, clearing the distance between itself and its prey in barely a second. Nico leapt aside and heard Reyna yell something as she followed. The monster landed on the ground and slid in the uneven dirt, ramming sideways into Festus and pushing the dragon as well a few feet across the ground. The sound of creaking metal joined the hound's growling as the dragon's hide was bent inward just above its back left leg.

"Not good!" Leo shouted from across the crash site. Nico looked over to see him struggling to his feet and looking anxiously between the dragon, the hound, and his friends. "If that thing wrecks Festus we'll be stuck here!"

"Definitely not good," Nico agreed, spinning back around as the hellhound regained its footing and looked around for them. He then noticed that Reyna was still on her knees a few feet away and was breathing heavily, right hand pressed to her left side. With a quick glance at the hound to make sure it wasn't on the attack yet, Nico rushed over to Reyna and knelt down beside her. "What's wrong?"

He probably didn't need to have asked. Just looking, he could see the deep twin scratch marks running horizontally across her left arm, just above her elbow. She lifted her hand to show another one over the ribs on her left side, though that one thankfully looked shallower.

"Uh-oh," he muttered, raising his head to look around the crash site. The hellhound was now sniffing at Festus as though trying to decide whether or not the dragon was potential food. Leo was leaning against a tree across the way with an arm wrapped around his stomach, and was glaring at the hellhound as though daring it to make a move. This fight wasn't exactly going as planned. The size of the hellhound made it more than a little difficult to kill—their swords and daggers probably felt like needles to the thirty-ton monster. Nico could probably shadow-travel Leo and Reyna to safety, but that would mean leaving Festus at the mercy of a rampaging beast—which, as Leo said, would be extremely detrimental to their plans. Ideally, they had to get the hellhound away from the dragon somehow, but Reyna likely wasn't up for a high-speed chase—or even a low-speed chase, for that matter.

Which meant there was only one thing to do: they had to split up.

Nico grabbed a hold of Reyna's uninjured arm and shut his eyes, jerking himself backward into that cold plane of dark nothingness. A raging, empty wind blew for half a second before the shadow thinned and they appeared beside Leo some distance from where they'd just been. The hellhound didn't seem to have noticed.

"Ouch… How about a warning?" Reyna said bitterly, pulling her arm from Nico's grasp.

"No time. Look, I'm gonna try to lead that thing away from here. You guys—"

"What?" Reyna demanded at the same time Leo exclaimed, "Are you _nuts?_"

"Chill, I've got a plan!" Nico shot back impatiently. "Look, _you_ can't run and _you_ need to stay here and get that dragon fixed as quickly as possible so that when I get back we can leave."

"Okay," Leo said slowly, "but it might take some time. That new dent's gonna be rough to bang out."

"Whatever you have to do, just do it quickly." He turned to Reyna and asked, "Can I borrow your dagger?" She nodded, a pained grimace on her face, and handed it to him. He wiped off the monster dust with the corner of his shirt and said, "Stay here until we're gone." And before either of them could argue anymore, Nico turned away and sprinted across the clearing toward where the hound had moved to Festus's head and was growling threateningly at its one working eye.

Moving carefully and quietly, Nico crept around behind the hound to its left side so as to better turn its attention away from Leo and Reyna. With the best impression of a calming breath that he could muster, Nico gripped Reyna's dagger and plunged the blade into the hound's left leg, pulling it back out at an angle and slicing through the coarse fur. The hellhound roared in pain and anger as black dust began to slide from the wound, caking its leg, and it turned with surprising speed. Nico threw himself to the side to avoid being chomped in two as the monster's teeth snapped closed beside him.

"Now that I've got your attention," he said, backing up slowly, "how about a walk?" The hound darted forward to bite at him again and he dodged to the side, holding out the dagger and this time giving the animal a slice across the nose. It whined loudly and pawed at its face, shaking its massive head, before turning to glare at Nico with its teeth bared in a snarl. It leaned back on its haunches, preparing to pounce, and with a brief mutter of, "I'll take that as a yes," Nico turned and bolted into the trees, hearing the sounds of destructive pursuit right behind him and wondering gravely what he'd just gotten himself into.

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><p><strong>Hellhounds and more hellhounds. This one has a purpose, though. You'll see, heh heh.<strong>

**Reviews are love, you guys! See you Friday!**

**-oMM**


	23. XXIII Nico

**Yo :) Happy Friday! Another fun, action-y chapter comin' up. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XXIII<br>NICO**

Okay, so maybe playing a deadly game of tag with a fifty-thousand-pound Underworld monster wasn't one of Nico's better ideas.

Thank the gods they were in a forest, otherwise he wouldn't have lasted five minutes. The trees weren't exactly immovable objects to the giant hellhound, but at the very least they succeeded in slowing it down. Nico ran through the darkness, weaving in and out of tree trunks and shrubbery, changing direction every hundred or so yards, all in an effort to confuse the hound and make himself more difficult to track. It worked for a while. Oftentimes he'd veer off to the left or right and hear the monster continue straight for a bit before realizing it was going the wrong way. He must have given off a pretty distinct smell, though, because somehow the beast always had a way of finding him again.

A very unfortunate circumstance was that this particular pursuit reminded Nico of the time he'd spent in that Tennessee forest after he'd lost his memories last month, and his similar stalker/prey relationship with the hunter Orion. At the time, he'd been terrified—having no idea who he was or how he'd gotten there, or for that matter why some lunatic with an extensive and obviously illegal firearm supply was so keen on playing horrible game after horrible game of hide-and-seek. It was maddening, feeling as though he ought to fight back but having no idea how or why. Luring the hellhound away from his friends in Indiana was different in that at least this time he fully understood the situation, but still the memories unnerved him. He made a mental note to steer perfectly clear of dark forests once this stupid war was over. He'd had enough of them to last him quite a long time.

His plan for the current situation was to lead the hellhound far enough away from their crash site and keep it occupied long enough for Leo to finish repairing the dragon—however long that would take. Then he would shadow-travel back and they could leave before the hellhound caught back up with them. He thought it wasn't a bad plan, overall, but that was of course notwithstanding exactly _how_ he planned to distract the hound for so long. He couldn't keep running forever. At some point he would have to stop and fight, but all he had to defend himself was Reyna's dagger. He was reluctant to summon anymore undead helpers, as that drained his energy much more quickly than shadow-travel. That, unfortunately, left him with very few options.

After fifteen minutes or so, Nico happened upon a hilled clearing with a forest path crossing through the center. Shooting a glance behind him and seeing nothing—though his ears told him his pursuer wasn't far behind—he sprinted out into the clearing and crossed it at an angle, trying not to spend much time in the open. It was enough for the hound, though, who broke through the trees behind him and immediately pounced, covering the cleared expanse with great speed. Nico looked over his shoulder to see the hellhound in midair, jaws open wide and claws outstretched, and barely had time to skid to a halt and dive out of the way before being impaled. He rolled across the ground and scrambled to his feet as the monster turned to face him, bowing low and growling threateningly.

"Aw, great," Nico muttered as he drew Reyna's dagger and held it tightly. He needed an opening if he planned to run again. Bolting off with the animal staring right at him would be a highly unintelligent move.

When the hound leapt, Nico was ready. He ducked and darted forward, allowing the monster to soar over him, and spun around, sticking it above its back right leg with the dagger when it landed. It growled and turned around, seeming relatively unperturbed by the injury, and made a grab for Nico with its sharp claws. He dropped to his stomach on the ground and rolled out of the way, coming up just in time to miraculously deflect another claw-strike with Reyna's knife. He grabbed a rock the size of a fist from the dirt beside him and stood, chucking it at the hound's face. It smacked it in the eye—the same eye Leo had earlier burned—and it howled and whimpered in pain. Taking his chance, Nico ran around behind the monster and dove back into the trees, hoping this wasn't the direction from which he'd come but really not remembering in the slightest.

The hellhound resumed the pursuit in seconds. Nico heard it knock a tree sideways into another as it left the clearing. He veered to the side and wound around a tree, heading off his left and trying to come up with a way to put more distance between himself and the hellhound without completely losing it—or better yet, a way to injure it and slow it down. Then when a wild idea struck him, he had to pause and consider that he was really going nuts before accepting that he didn't actually have much to lose by trying.

Nico ground to a halt and glanced upward, searching for a tree branch at about the right height. He spotted one roughly thirty feet from the ground and stepped back into darkness without a second thought. When he reappeared on the branch, he had to drop immediately to a crouch to keep from losing his balance and grab onto the wood with his free hand, pulling painfully on his injured shoulder. He could hear the hellhound approaching and hoped it wouldn't have veered too far away. He would have to time this perfectly.

Sure enough, not a second later, the snarling intensified and the monster appeared through the darkness, bounding around the trees in a direction that should—with a bit of luck—land it in the right place. Nico held his breath and waited until the hound was mere feet from his tree, and then took leave of his rationality and jumped. By a stroke of fortune, he landed hard on the hellhound's back, just below its shoulders, and had to latch onto its rough fur to keep from being thrown as it ran across the uneven ground.

The hellhound must have noticed that something had happened because its ears seemed to perk up and its pace slowed. Nico sat up and dug his knees into the grooves in the animal's back before raising Reyna's dagger and stabbing it between the shoulder blades. Had the blade been longer, it might have killed it. But at the very least he seemed to have cause it extreme discomfort, because it howled at once and skidded to a halt so fast that Nico's eyes had barely widened in alarm before he slid from the monster's back and landed flat on the ground, feeling a hard collection of rocks dig into his back.

Nico gave a low groan and grimaced as pain flared in his shoulder again. He pushed himself up on his elbows and realized that he was no longer holding Reyna's dagger. What was worse, it was lying on the ground a few yards away from him, and the hellhound was sniffing at it curiously. The monster may have sensed that the black dust covering the golden blade had come from its own body, because it suddenly bared its teeth in an angry snarl. Then it opened its mouth, reached out with its tongue to lift the weapon, and swallowed the dagger whole.

"Oops," Nico murmured, wincing. Reyna wouldn't be happy about that. And again he was weaponless.

But then another gleam of gold flashed in the corner of his eye, and he glanced to his left to see the Imperial gold sword Reyna had wielded earlier still stuck in the hellhound's back right leg. Well, wasn't that lucky? With a quick glance at the hound's head, which seemed to be sniffing the ground for any more offending snacks, Nico climbed quietly to his feet and crept toward its leg. He gripped the sword's hilt in both hands and pulled, freeing it from the monster's flesh and causing it to growl in irritation. It whipped around toward him, but again he was ready.

The gold sword was heavier than what he was used to, but it was easily better than fighting bare-handed. With some initial difficulty, he raised it above his head and blocked the monster's teeth, casting its head aside. He aimed a slice at its neck but it swung its head too quickly, knocking into him and bowling him off his feet. He rolled across the dirt as the hellhound's front paws leapt for him, then sprang to his feet and succeeded in cutting across its right front leg. As it growled, he vaulted over its paws and started off through the forest, but so many small injuries must have brought on a sudden wave of hyper-intelligence in the monster, because rather than chase after him it turned and shoved over the nearest tree, knocking it straight toward Nico. He turned and saw the trunk plummeting after him and barely had time to yell in surprise and throw himself out of the way before it crashed down, shaking the ground and causing Nico to roll twelve feet across a rocky hill.

Entire body aching, Nico groaned in frustration, shaking dirt out of his eyes and mouth. He started to lean up from the ground but was stopped almost instantly by a rough, heavy, black shadow that slammed him in the chest and shoved him back to the dirt. A sharp, searing pain shot through his right leg and he screamed, squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth. The shadow pressed down on him harder, almost knocking the breath from his lungs, and he finally looked up as his vision focused on a pair of angry, red eyes staring down at him above deadly yellow teeth dripping with drool.

Nico was filled suddenly with a powerful sense of dread. His fight was over. The hellhound had him pinned to the ground with no immediate weapon (Reyna's sword had left his hand) and could kill him at any moment. He couldn't even shadow-travel away—he couldn't see to be sure, but judging by the feeling alone one of the hellhound's claws had impaled his leg, meaning that if he tried to use shadow-travel the hound would only be dragged along for the ride—which would: A, defeat the purpose of escaping, and B, probably kill him from the effort of transporting something that size.

There was only one option—one final defense Nico had that _might_ have a chance of saving his life. It was a skill he had only begun learning recently and had yet to perfect, but at this point he didn't have time to think about what could go wrong. It was this or become puppy chow.

Nico locked his eyes onto the hellhound's and reached out with his mind, trying to muster his confidence and assurance. He remembered what his father had told him—they could claim physical or mental control over creatures of the Underworld, but only if they truly _believed_ that they possessed dominance. He had to convince the creature through transfer of emotion that he was in charge, and that it had no choice but to do what he wanted. He'd used the same trick against the Fury Megaera in Death Valley the day before the eclipse, and it had worked for a time—until she'd called her sisters for help, anyway. It had been easier that time, though—he hadn't been completely at the creature's mercy like he was now. Acting tough was a lot more difficult when the thing you're trying to subjugate could behead you with a simple snap of its teeth.

Getting into the hellhound's head was the easy part, but he wasn't entirely prepared for what followed. A hungry wave of murderous intent flowed into his own mind from the monster. The word _kill… kill… kill…_ repeated in a deep growl of a voice. But the harder he listened, he started to hear another voice behind it—higher, cooler, more melodious. It was a woman's voice. He thought he should recognize it, but he was concentrating too hard on the mental connection to give it enough thought. He tried to drown out the woman's voice with ideas of his own—to stop, to calm down, _not_ to kill. The hellhound seemed to blink and pause in confusion, unsure which voice to listen to. It shifted its paws, twisting the claw still piercing Nico's leg, and his focus was momentarily blinded by a white streak of pain.

The lapse cost him. The hellhound growled as the woman's voice continued to repeat _kill… kill… kill…_ in a morbid lullaby. It opened its mouth to strike, and Nico threw all his mental power into one final attempt to break through as the great, sword-like fangs sank in for the kill.

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><p><strong>Cliffhangers are the best ;)<strong>

**I super love the next chapter, so I'll probably put it up Monday. What do you guys think? How 'bout a review, hmm? Hmm? Haha, later days!**

**-oMM**


	24. XXIV Nico

**Hey gang! Happy Monday! I really like this chapter, though for different reasons than most. It's not particularly exciting, but it was super fun to write. You'll see as you read, hehe.**

**Thanks as always to those of you who reviewed for me! :D Love you guys! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XXIV<br>NICO**

What happened next was something Nico could never have predicted.

He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the brief flash of pain before death as the hellhound's teeth found him. But what found him instead was something flat, coarse, and extremely slimy—something that smelled like dog breath amplified by eighty. The thing sloshed across his face and shoulders—the only parts not covered by the monster's paw—drenching him in thick, foul-smelling liquid. Gagging, he opened one eye in an effort not to be blinded by the stuff and saw something very strange. The hellhound was still hovering over him, but instead of a snarl he saw on its face what could only be described as an excited grin. Its mouth was open wide, giant pink tongue hanging out between two teeth. It panted like a puppy and tilted its head to the side, its eyes glancing inquisitively down at its prisoner.

Nico was dumbfounded. He stared at the monster, at a total loss for what to do about its sudden drastic change in demeanor. His attempt to break through the woman's voice (Nyx's voice, he was now able to remember; she must have employed the same control technique that he had; fortunately, eye contact was necessary to establish the connection, which meant that as long as this hellhound stayed away from Nyx, it would be free) must have worked, seeing as he was still alive, but this hadn't exactly been what he'd had in mind. To tell the truth, he wasn't sure _what_ he'd had in mind—what he'd expected to happen once he convinced the hellhound not to kill him.

"Um…" he said awkwardly as the hound continued to watch him expectantly. "Hi."

The hellhound let out a deafening bark. A rhythmic thumping sound behind it made Nico suspect it was wagging its enormous tail.

"Yeah, okay." Nico winced and shook his head. His ears rang from the volume of the dog's bark. "How about, you know… getting off me?"

The hellhound barked again and lifted its paw, backing away. Nico bit back another scream as its claw was pulled from his leg, and he forced himself into a sitting position to see a wide, ugly puncture wound just below his right knee. Blood soaked nearly every inch of the bottom half of his pant leg.

The hellhound sat down on its stomach and whimpered in apparent sympathy. Nico shifted in alarm as it laid its head down and sniffed at his leg, before opening its mouth and brushing its tongue across the entire lower half of his body. This didn't exactly help, despite whatever the animal's intentions had been, and only really served to ensure that Nico was now covered from head to toe in monster slobber.

"Great," he grumbled, shaking his arms and flinging globs of drool onto the ground. "That's great. Thanks for that." Apparently, this made the hellhound think it had done something good, and it sat back on its haunches and barked into the sky, looking proud of itself.

_Alright,_ Nico thought with a sigh,_ now what?_ The hellhound didn't seem to be a threat anymore, which meant that he could probably return safely to the crash site and see how Leo and Reyna were coming on the dragon. The sooner they got out of that forest, the better. The problem would be getting there. That little control trick had worn him out, even more so when taken into account the blood he'd lost. He could try shadow-traveling, but even if he made it to the right place he'd likely pass out upon arrival, which would just set them back even further.

Gritting his teeth, Nico stood up unsteadily—only to stumble back to his knees as soon as he put some test weight on his right leg. The hellhound, which was watching questioningly, whimpered and leaned down again, resting its head on the ground and nudging Nico's arm. Looking over, he saw the animal watching him expectantly. Reluctantly, he swung his arm over the hound's nose and it huffed in approval, as though that was exactly what it was waiting for. It lifted its head slowly, helping Nico to his feet and allowing him to lean on it for support.

"Uh… thanks," he said uncertainly. The hellhound blinked and wagged its tail, its head still bent low to provide Nico with a sort of crutch.

So walking was out of the question, Nico realized as he gingerly pressed his right foot against the ground and the resulting pain that shot up his leg was too persistent for his liking. No walking, no running, no shadow-travel—

An odd idea struck him. All Underworld beings use shadow-travel—including hellhounds. Nico wasn't exactly keen on bringing the monster with him, but the more he thought about it the more he realized it was his only viable way back. "Could you, uh…" he said to it, not sure how this was supposed to work, "help me get back to my friends?" He reached out to the hound's mind again and tried to show it a picture of the crash site. It must have recognized the place because it gave a low whine of acquiescence and slid its nose out from under Nico's arm. It then grabbed the back of his shirt in its teeth and lifted him uncomfortably into the air, lowering him onto its back as he cried out in surprise.

"Wait, Reyna's sword!" he said quickly, remembering that he'd already lost her dagger and didn't really want to see her face if he came back with neither of her weapons. He'd been talking more to himself than the hellhound, but it seemed to take this as a command and whirled around, sniffing at the ground. When it located the gold sword, it picked it up between its teeth and Nico barely had time to grab hold of its fur before it bounded off into the shadow between two trees and darkness enveloped them.

When it faded a second later, the hellhound's paws slammed into the torn-up ground at Festus's crash site. There was a loud banging sound and someone shouted, "It's back!"

Nico quickly leaned as far up from the hellhound's back as he could and looked around its head to see Leo and Reyna scrambling to attention. "Guys, wait, it's okay!" he shouted, and they both nearly fell over from shock when they noticed him.

"Nico?" Leo said in wonder as Reyna demanded, "What are you doing?" The hound dropped Reyna's drool-covered sword onto the dirt and she stared at it, eyes narrowing a fraction of an inch. Nico noticed that the scratch marks on her arm and side no longer looked to be bothering her.

"You wanna let me down?" Nico asked the hellhound, and it obliged by lowering itself to lie flat on the ground. Nico swung his good leg over its back and slid the remaining ten feet to the dirt, stumbling to his hands and knees again. Leo and Reyna were still frozen in place, eyes shifting from Nico to the hellhound and back again. "It's okay," Nico repeated. "It's not gonna kill us anymore. At least… I don't think it is."

"What did…?" Reyna said in disbelief as Leo stepped slowly toward the monster, eyeing it warily. "What did you do to it? Are you saying you… _tamed_ it?"

Nico struggled to his feet, glancing toward the hound, which was still panting merrily with its tongue hanging out. He hadn't thought of it that way, but he supposed that it was technically true. "I guess so."

"Awesome," Leo said, his expression breaking into a grin.

"What happened to your leg?" Reyna asked suddenly, eyes going to the blood coating Nico's shin. The hellhound whimpered and placed its humongous paws over its nose and eyes, looking ashamed.

Nico patted it awkwardly on the side of the head. "It's, uh… okay. You didn't… mean to." This, apparently, was exactly what the hound wanted to hear, because its ears perked up instantly and it gave an excited bark before once again bathing Nico with its tongue. "Ulgh…" he muttered as he backed away, wiping a handful of foul slime from his face.

Leo laughed. "Aw, he likes you!" he said as he approached the hellhound and looked up at it. "So what are you gonna call him?"

"Call him?" Nico repeated as Reyna jogged over to them and handed him a sizeable chunk of ambrosia. "I'm not calling him anything. He's a hellhound."

"So's Mrs. O'Leary, but we keep her around," Leo pointed out. "Come on, don't you think she could use a friend?"

Nico stared at Leo as the son of Hephaestus reached up and started scratching the hellhound beneath the chin. It hummed and twisted its head, allowing him to reach behind its ears. "You're not suggesting we _keep_ him, are you?"

"I'm not saying he should live at camp, but it sure would be useful to have a giant hellhound on call, wouldn't it?"

Nico frowned, not wanting to admit that Leo had a point. The hellhound shook its head happily and all of a sudden rolled sideways onto its back with a great, rumbling _thud_, its massive legs sticking up into the air. It nudged Leo with its nose and he chuckled, scratching at the base of its neck.

"Since when are you so good with dogs?" Nico asked as a change of subject.

"Well," Reyna said thoughtfully, "they do say animals tend to get on well with their own kind."

Was that a joke? From _Reyna?_ Nico wasn't sure he'd heard her correctly, but when Leo leaned around the hound's head with an eyebrow raised and asked suspiciously, "Are you calling me a dog?" and her only reply was a shrug and a nonchalant, "If the collar fits," Nico was forced to believe it. Leo laughed and returned his attention to the monster, not appearing surprised or fazed by the conversation at all.

Nico chose not to comment on Reyna's change of character. She and Leo seemed to be getting along just fine now, despite the warnings Leo had given to the contrary, which meant that whatever problems they'd had must have been worked out. Nico had to admit he was glad. Like he'd told Leo before they'd left, the three of them were going to have to work like a team. And if Leo somehow rubbed off on Reyna in the process and relaxed her attitude, it was all for the better.

"How about Benny?" Leo suggested after a minute. The hellhound barked its approval.

Nico rolled his eyes. "I am not calling a hellhound _Benny._"

"Well, I am. Besides, he likes that name. Don't you, boy?" The hellhound once again gave a deafening bark, rolling back onto its belly and using its nose to nudge Leo so enthusiastically that he was knocked over onto his back. He only laughed in response.

"Is the dragon ready?" Nico asked insistently.

"Just about," Leo promised, returning his attention to the situation at hand. "Dents are banged out, tears are fixed, power and communication are back online. All I need to do is rewire the left frontal bearing sensor, which should only take a few minutes, and then run a full, line-in system diagnostic."

Reyna looked pointedly at Nico and reiterated, "He needs to fix the left eye and test it out."

"Hey, it's not just an 'eye'," Leo argued, climbing to his feet and dusting off his clothes. "It's got an important function. Anyway, give me twenty minutes and we can pack up and jet."

As Leo headed back toward the dragon and Reyna took her slimy sword to clean it off, the hellhound turned toward Nico expectantly, as though waiting for him to resume Leo's scratching of its head. "Not gonna happen, buddy," he told it flatly, but it didn't seem to mind. On the contrary, it nudged Nico on the arm and dropped its head to the ground with purpose, watching him with its beady red eyes. He shrugged and sat down beside it. It moved to rest its head on his lap, obviously forgetting that said head weighed a few hundred pounds and Nico already had an injured leg. He yelled as the weight pressed down on him and the monster whimpered and settled for resting its nose against his shoulder.

Reyna brought Nico a roll of bandages a few minutes later and he wrapped them tightly around the stab wound in his leg. It had since stopped bleeding, thanks to the ambrosia, and the pain had reduced marginally. Hopefully by the time they landed in Death Valley, he'd at least be able to walk on it again. To his surprise, Reyna also handed over his iron sword.

"How'd you find this?" he asked incredulously, examining the blade.

She looked over her shoulder toward the line of partly-collapsed trees. "Followed the path of destruction you came from," she said. "It wasn't too far. Not like I could help Leo, so I needed something useful to do."

True to his word, Leo reported roughly twenty minutes later that Festus the dragon was cleared for takeoff. The automaton still looked a little worse for wear—its bronze hide had been patched with silver metal in some places and dirt still caked its legs and tail. But it was moving again like always, stretching and furling its metallic wings and shaking its heavy head, jaw opening and closing with a baffling series of clicks and whirrs.

The hellhound seemed to take great interest in the giant mechanical reptile, bounding over to sniff at it the second it stood on its bulky metal legs. The dragon twisted its long neck around and tilted its head at the hound, machine sounds emanating from its hinged mouth.

"No, Festus, don't filet it," Leo answered the dragon's apparent question. "This is Benny. He's a new friend." The hellhound gave a thunderous bark a foot behind Leo and he cringed, twisting a finger in his ear with a grimace. "A very _loud_ friend." The dragon leaned its head up and shot a stream of blue fire into the sky, as though determined not to be outdone by this noisy creature. The hellhound seemed to enjoy the show and barked again, jumping up and down so that the ground shook and Leo, Reyna, and Nico (who was leaning on Reyna's shoulder) all stumbled. "Alright, alright! Calm down!" Leo called to the hellhound, staggering up to it and holding up both hands—which was rather brave, as it could easily have crushed him inadvertently in its excitement.

"Let's just get going," Reyna suggested impatiently and she and Nico strode up to the dragon. They'd already packed their supplies back in Festus's cargo chamber, and all that was left to do was to climb aboard and set off.

"Right," Leo agreed, leading the way by vaulting onto the dragon's back and seating himself in the first seat at the base of its neck. Reyna followed, this time taking the second seat directly behind him, and Nico settled into the third. He'd never been a huge fan of flying—Zeus's territory and all that—but for whatever reason it was a lot easier in the dark. Besides, they had an important mission to get on with. They were a day behind schedule already.

"Later, Benny!" Leo called to the hellhound, who had taken a few steps back and was sitting on its hind legs, watching them.

Nico turned sideways and the hellhound—Benny—met his eyes with a sad sort of look. "Stay away from Nyx!" he ordered him, and he barked in response. Strangely, Nico felt a sudden spark of reluctance, like part of him didn't want to leave. But that was stupid. There was no way he was actually growing attached to the friendly monster.

But as the dragon beat its heavy wings and kicked off from the ground, and Benny laid his head on his paws with a mournful howl, Nico couldn't help but hope that somehow, someday, they'd see him again.

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><p><strong>Awww, Nico made a friend! He deserves one, wouldn't you say? Naturally, this won't be the last time we see ol' Benny, hehe.<strong>

**Back at camp next chapter :D Drop me a review on your way out! Next update will be Thursday or Friday. Next chapter set is a good one, imo. Remember I said I can't wait to show it to you guys? Heh heh ;)**

**Later days!**

**-oMM**


	25. XXV Percy

**Hey, gang! Look at that, it's only been two days. Weird. I guess I'm feeling generous. I'm currently (like, right this minute) writing the huge seven-chapter final battle sequence for this and it's just got me in the mood to post another chapter, haha.**

**Thanks those of you that reviewed the last one! I like this chapter set. It's a lot of fun; very exciting all around. You'll see, I guess. Enjoy! :D**

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><p><strong>XXV<br>PERCY**

Percy hated being helpless.

Since the start of the Shadow War, the situation at Camp Half-Blood had been rocky. Everyone was on edge, fearing that any day Erebos could march through their defenses and rain havoc down on their feeble corner of imagined security. Percy couldn't stand seeing his friends that way—so weary and on-edge, constantly worried and afraid but trying their hardest to hide it in a small effort not to erase all hope. It was the Titan War—the Giant War—everything all over again. And it was wrong. Kids like them shouldn't have to live each day not knowing if they'd ever see another one—slowly forgetting the light of the sun and the feeling of safety.

The list of things Percy would give up for a way to end all this was extremely impressive. His friends and fellow campers had sort of looked to him for guidance ever since he'd been claimed by his father during his first summer at Camp Half-Blood, and at first he'd hated it. He'd never asked to be a leader or wanted the spotlight at all. But as time had worn on, he'd more or less grown used to it. Before he knew it, he'd settled himself into the role everyone around him seemed to expect. He wasn't in charge or anything, but rather he began to take the safety of his friends on himself—to take responsibility for helping and protecting them. It wasn't a choice or any kind of conscious decision, it was just something he did. It was as natural as breathing. And being powerless to do anything to ease his friends' pain and fear was like suffocating.

And things were getting worse. According to Piper, one of her cabin mates had been (or would be; her magic dagger hadn't been specific about timing) taken captive by Erebos' army. The message hadn't been clear, but apparently the girl, Drew, was supposed to act as some sort of bait. The trouble was, they hadn't received any kind of ransom yet. Percy wanted to take a team to Olympus and try to find her, but that idea had been shot down before it had fully left his mouth. They weren't, as everyone was quick to point out, completely sure Drew had been taken yet at all. The other Aphrodite kids were scouring the camp, searching anywhere and everywhere for their missing sibling. But a few hours had passed and still there was no sign of her. Percy was starting to get anxious—and he definitely wasn't the only one—but as Annabeth and many of the other Athena kids kept reminding everyone, if Erebos did intend to use Drew as bait they would hear from him before long. Then they would be able to decide what to do.

Sensible as that plan may be, it did absolutely nothing to alleviate Percy's frustration. So in the meantime, he had to handle it in other ways—like training at the arena, for example.

He shook his head back to attention just in time to duck the wide swing of a cavalry sword aimed at his left ear. Focus singling in, he aimed a quick jab down low and was unsurprised when Hazel jumped sideways to avoid it. She spun in a circle, gathering momentum, and this time Percy threw his sword up to block hers. A resounding _clang_ rang through the arena as her heavy sword collided with his lighter one, jarring his arm. But it didn't altogether block the low sound of dirt crunching behind him, and he quickly shoved forward, using his advantage of weight and strength over Hazel to push her arm aside. He kicked her breastplate, knocking her over onto her back, and whirled around, raising his left arm and ducking behind his buckler so that the dulled blade of Frank's _gladius_ glanced off the shield's curved surface.

Frank stumbled to the side and Percy straightened, stabbing swiftly out with his sword. Frank turned just in time and caught the blade against the flat edge of his heater shield. He flung his arm aside, almost throwing the weapon from Percy's grip, and swung his _gladius_. Percy turned sideways instinctively to dodge the strike aimed at his ribs and again heard the sound of nearby movement. A glance to his left showed him that Hazel had regained her footing, and he ducked a swing of her sword and shoved her backward with his shield before aiming a back-swung jab at Frank that collided roughly with the side of his stomach as the son of Mars raised his arms and tried to start forward. Frank grunted in pain and staggered backward, arms dropping, and Percy returned his attention to Hazel as she swung her _spatha_ at his legs. He jumped—which was more difficult than usual, given the added weight of armor and equipment—and stumbled when he landed, dropping to one knee. Hazel spun again and aimed a slash at his left shoulder, but he blocked it with his shield and twisted to the side, using his position to push her blade to the ground and trap it beneath his shield. He then landed a powerful stab at her chest that probably would have impaled her had she not been wearing armor and had his blade not been blunted. As it was, she cried out and let go of her sword as she fell backward.

_One down_, Percy thought as he kicked Hazel's _spatha_ out of the way and sprang to his feet, turning to see where his other opponent had got to. He didn't see Frank immediately and frowned, eyes narrowing. Wondering if he'd gone to check on Hazel, Percy started to turn back around. But he hadn't gotten far before something hard and metal slammed into the back of his head. He stumbled forward and swore loudly as flashes of light blotted his vision, regretting the fact that he'd chosen to forgo a helmet. He landed on his hands and knees, watering eyes squeezed shut as he tried to focus on the person he knew was about to strike again and not the massive headache that was trying very hard to distract him. He barely heard the clink of armor behind him and rolled to the side, opening his eyes to see Frank's sword swing down cleanly where he'd just been a second before.

Angry that he'd left himself open, Percy growled and threw himself at Frank, tackling the son of Mars and dragging him to the ground. Frank seemed caught off guard at first but quickly regained his focus and shoved at Percy, bowling him sideways so they rolled over one another. Though an inch or two shorter, Frank was much bulkier than Percy and had the advantage in strength, and Percy very narrowly avoided being brained by his heater shield again. Fueled by frustrated fury, Percy finally managed to force himself on top of Frank and shove the blunted blade of his sword under his friend's chin, effectively ending the struggle.

The adrenaline in Percy's body seemed to have realized that the fight was over, because it all faded in an instant, leaving him considerably tired and sore. He blinked hard a few times, shaking his head as the pain reduced to a dull ache and the resulting anger disappeared. Breathing heavily, he climbed to his feet, switching his sword to his left hand and holding out his right. Frank, who was also visibly out of breath, took it and allowed Percy to pull him up next to him.

"Wow," Frank said breathlessly, unfastening the shield from his arm and rotating his shoulder. He gave Percy an awed sort of look. "You're getting _really_ good."

Percy grunted noncommittally in response. He was still thinking uneasily about that brief instant a few seconds ago, when he could have sworn some part of him had been ready to slice his friend's head off. He wanted to think it had just been the fault of his natural battle reflexes, but deep down he wasn't entirely sure. The Oracle's warning had him extremely worried—if there really was some kind of darkness inside him, then how long would it be before he snapped and turned against the people he cared about? Was that what the prophecy had been predicting? _Son of the Storm-bringer, doomed to fail._ What if he would fail to protect his friends by bringing about their deaths himself?

But when he looked at Frank and Hazel, the latter of whom was stretching her arms as she approached the boys, he felt nothing like that brief, scary moment. No anger, no darkness, no strangely uncharacteristic desire for blood and death. He saw them as he always did—as his best friends, the two people who'd helped him after Hera had stolen his memories, who'd stood by him when he had no home, no past, and no sense of self. It wasn't only that he didn't want to hurt them, but he _wasn't going to_. He couldn't possibly ever see it happening. And even that small bit of reassurance was comforting enough.

"Frank's right, Percy," Hazel said in response to her boyfriend's statement, obviously interpreting Percy's lack of response as skepticism, and he shook himself out of his own head and back to the conversation. "You're gonna run out of sparring partners soon."

Percy shook his head. "It's still not enough." For some reason Hazel rolled her eyes and laughed, and Percy frowned at her. "What?"

She exchanged a hopeless sort of look with Frank and answered, "Only you could be the best fighter at camp and _still_ not be satisfied."

Percy wasn't sure whether to laugh or be offended. "Erebos is a god," he said, suddenly feeling like he had to explain himself. "Somewhere along the line, somebody's gonna have to fight him. And, you know, not die."

"We know that," Frank agreed. "But, well…" He shifted a bit awkwardly and looked to Hazel for help, and she seemed to get whatever message he was sending.

She stepped toward Percy and said seriously, "It's great that you want to protect everyone. But you don't have to take so much responsibility on yourself. Who says it's you who has to fight Erebos?"

"No one, it's just—"

"We'll do this together, just like we always do. Because friends fight for _each other_." Hazel smiled, golden eyes sparkling with sincerity. "Anytime you want to hone your edge, just let us know. But don't expect us to let you take the spotlight when the time comes. If you really care about us, you'll give us a chance to care about you, too."

This time Percy couldn't help returning their smiles. He really did have some pretty great friends. "You got it," he replied. "All of us together, the King of Darkness doesn't stand a chance." Hazel and Frank grinned, even though they knew as well as Percy did that it wouldn't be that easy. Still, pretending like it would had a way of keeping them from losing hope, which, as they waited for Erebos to make his move, was more important than anything.

"We should get this stuff put away," Percy said, nodding to their equipment. "The Aphrodite kids'll have our necks if it's not all back in its proper place." He bent down to pick up the blunted _gladius_ Frank had been using and a sudden and uncomfortable wave of dizziness caused him to falter. He groaned and forgot the sword, instead straightening and pressing his free hand against his forehead.

"Sorry," Frank said at once, looking guilty and hurrying to retrieve the sword himself. "That's my fault, isn't it? I could tell right away I hit you harder than I meant to."

"It's fine," Percy insisted as the dizzy spell passed quickly. His skull did ache, but he'd suffered worse head injuries. It wouldn't be a problem. "Don't worry about it. I asked you to fight seriously, didn't I?"

He grinned reassuringly and Frank proceeded to look unconvinced. "Yeah, but if—"

"Percy!" a voice interrupted, causing all three of them to look around. Miranda Gardiner from the Demeter cabin was running toward them, dark hair flying behind her back and an anxious look on her face.

"What's up?" Percy asked immediately.

"Trouble with an extraction team. They need your help!"

"What?" exclaimed Hazel at the same time Frank asked, "How do you know?"

"Lou Ellen," Miranda explained, leaning over to catch her breath. "She sent her pegasus back with a magic letter asking to send reinforcements. A lot of people are either busy or away from camp, but I thought you'd—"

"Where are they?" Percy interrupted, throwing aside the blunted sword he'd been using and pulling his own from his pocket in pen-form.

"Near Central Park. There are pegasi in the stables—"

"Thanks, Miranda. Do me a favor and find Annabeth, will you? Let her know what happened and tell her she doesn't have to worry. I'll bring them back safe."

As Miranda agreed and headed off at a run, Hazel said firmly, "We're coming with you."

Percy nodded, knowing he'd be glad for the extra help, and waited while she and Frank quickly went to retrieve their own weapons. Not wanting to waste time running to the stables, he called out for Blackjack with his mind, glad when the pegasus was quick to respond.

_Good to hear your voice, boss! You know, we never talk these days. Not like we used to. Brings a tear to the eye._

_Yeah, well, we can lament times of old some other day. Right now we've got bigger fish to fry._

_Fish? Ugh, I hate fish. Give me a nice box of glazed donuts or some French fries any old day, but if it's been kickin' I sure ain't lickin'._

_It's an expression, horse-brain. Get down to the arena. And bring two friends._

_So are you sure—?_

_There's no fish involved!_

_Alright, alright. One black beauty with a double side of wings to go, comin' right up. I don't suppose you're taking us on vacation?_

Percy grinned wryly as Frank and Hazel returned, and despite the situation they smiled back. _Rescue mission. Now get your tail in gear. We've got some teammates to save._

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><p><strong>Fun times, comin' up. Next two chapters are a bit longer than this one, and almost straight fight scenes. Man, I love writing fight scenes. I know that's kind of rare, seeing as most people hate them, but I dunno I guess I'm just weird that way.<strong>

**Reviews? Maybe? Pretty please? Love you guys! Later days!**

**-oMM**


	26. XXVI Percy

**Hey, gang! Happy Friday! (Have you noticed I feel the need to say that every Friday? You don't understand how important Fridays are to someone with a repetitive 45-hour work week, haha)**

**Yes, three updates this week! I'm making really good progress so I figured I might as well start upping the post count. There won't be three every week, but here and there I'll throw an extra one in :) This chapter's a lot of fun, too. Nice and exciting.**

**Thanks bunches to my reviewers! :D Enjoy, everybody!**

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><p><strong>XXVI<br>PERCY**

The trio of pegasi reached Manhattan in barely a few minutes thanks to their unnatural speed. No one was out of their houses, which was hardly an abnormal occurrence these days. A few lonely monsters roamed the streets, digging through garbage cans or feasting on abandoned cars, but there were no campers in clear sight.

"What now?" Frank yelled from midair a little ways off to Percy's left. Percy squinted through the darkness toward the ground below them and was about to suggest they split up to search for Lou Ellen's extraction team when a deafening roar answered the question for him. It was raspy and high, very different from your average monster roar and yet somehow strangely familiar.

"Well, whatever _that_ was," Percy shouted back, "it was coming from over there. Come on!" He and Blackjack led the way down toward the sound, and when they all landed on Fifth Avenue outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Percy, Frank, and Hazel dismounted immediately.

The instant their feet touched the pavement, the roar sounded again, this time much closer than before. They all flinched in alarm. Hazel breathed in sharply and Frank looked wildly around while Percy tried to place its source. It sounded strangely reptilian, like the dinosaurs from _Jurassic Park_. But that was stupid, because it wasn't like Godzilla was wreaking havoc in downtown—

And then it hit him. He _did_ know that roar. He'd met a creature that sounded just like that once before, and it wasn't something he had ever wanted to run into again.

"Uh-oh," he muttered, uncapping Riptide and gripping the hilt a bit too tightly.

"What is it?" Hazel asked urgently.

Percy didn't answer her. "Stay here," he told the pegasi. "Don't follow us unless I call you. And don't leave this spot unless staying will get you killed." They agreed, all three of them a bit perturbed by the volume and proximity of the monster. They cantered over to the nearest fountain in the Met's front plaza and busied themselves drinking from it, which may or may not have been completely sanitary.

"Do you know what that was?" Frank demanded.

Percy looked seriously between him and Hazel and said, "We should hurry."

Locating the extraction team from that point wasn't difficult. When the three of them had rounded the nearest corner of the museum and begun heading toward Central Park, a voice Percy had no trouble recognizing shouted, "Over here, ugly! Point those teeth this way so I can snap 'em in half!"

"Don't make it angrier, you stupid goat!" a second voice shrieked furiously. "And watch out for the poison!"

Percy followed the voices, Hazel and Frank at his heels. The second they cleared the building, they were met with the sight he'd been waiting for.

Resting on the grass ahead of them and hissing threateningly was a drakon. A long, slithering serpent with shiny gray scales tougher than iron and piercing, yellow eyes. It was the length and width of a four-car subway train, and had rows of thin, sharp teeth that could impale a stone statue and dripped with steaming, gold poison. In front of it, hopping up and down on the concrete steps that led up to the Met's back entrance, was Gleeson Hedge. Hedge held his trusty silver baseball bat in his meaty hands and was swinging it in a circle as though waiting for the drakon to pitch him a fastball. Not far from the satyr, just on the creature's left, stood Clarisse La Rue of the Ares cabin, who brandished a pointed spear and was glaring at Hedge like he was the one causing the trouble.

"I-Is that a…?" Frank muttered, voice oddly light as his eyes stared wide at the monster.

"A drakon," Percy confirmed, his throat suddenly dry.

"Percy!" another voice called, and Percy spun to the side to see Lou Ellen Baker, the pretty, redheaded, sixteen-year-old head counselor of the Hecate cabin, running toward them. "Frank! Hazel! Oh, thank the gods you guys got my message. Clarisse didn't want to send for help, but I told her we would need the extra swords—"

"Oh, and look who decided to answer the call," Clarisse said drawlingly as she turned at the sound of visitors. "Jackson the Hero. Anyone surprised? Anyone?" She looked around mockingly as though waiting for an invisible audience to dispute her, and when no one did she raised an eyebrow pointedly at Percy, who scowled in response. "And _you_," she snarled at Frank, eyes sweeping over Hazel like she wasn't even there. "What makes you think _you_ can take on a monster like _this?_"

Frank glared at his Greek half-sister, grip on his bow tightening. Ever since they'd first met a year ago, Frank and Clarisse had never gotten along. He'd been friendly enough toward her in the beginning, but she seemed to have decided even before laying eyes on him that she didn't like him. Whenever she looked at him, there was obvious contempt in her expression. She might have resented the fact that he was one of last summer's Prophecy Seven instead of her, when she had always considered herself their father's favorite. Whatever the reason, Clarisse had developed a habit of trying her hardest to bring Frank down, possibly in an effort to ensure that everyone else believed just as readily as she did that whatever made him special was nothing more than a fluke. Frank wasn't sure how to deal with her hostility, given the fact that he wasn't the best at handling confrontation, which didn't exactly help matters. Percy was starting to wish he'd asked who the rest of Lou Ellen's team was before bringing Frank and Hazel along.

"What happened?" Percy asked Lou Ellen before either War God child could escalate an argument.

Lou Ellen turned anxious eyes on the three kids behind her—all boys, two of whom looked to be brothers between the ages of six and ten. They had identical caramel hair and bright blue eyes, though the younger one had quite a few more freckles than his brother. The third boy had to be at least fifteen and was clearly not related to the others by mortal blood. He was barely an inch shorter than Percy but a good deal stockier, built a bit like Frank. He had dirty blond hair that stuck up in tiny spikes, and a crooked nose that was probably broken at least once before. One of his eyes was dark brown and the other a pale, milky sort of color, like it was blinded. A white scar bisected his right eyebrow and stretched over the pale eye to his cheekbone. The two youngest kids were looking at the drakon as though every single one of their nightmares had just come true and the older one was switching his apprehensive gaze between the monster and Clarisse—who, admittedly, could be just as scary as a drakon depending on the circumstances.

"We were on our way back," Lou Ellen explained, "when this drakon caught up with us. It poisoned Clarisse's pegasus and forced us to land. We couldn't outrun it on foot, so we decided to take a stand instead. I sent Dusty back to camp with a message asking for help." Clarisse huffed in annoyance, but Lou Ellen ignored her. "Clarisse and Hedge have been holding it off while I protect the boys, but if we don't make some headway soon then—" She broke off and turned as Hedge gave a loud bellow and was flung face-first to the grass as the drakon bowled him over with a swing of its head. It roared into the sky as Hedge pushed himself up on his hands and spat out a mouthful of dirt.

"I'm telling you, it's pointless!" Clarisse yelled at the satyr. "I know that drakon! It's gotta be killed by a child of Ares!" She shook her head and muttered something under her breath about idiotic, brainless goat-men, but Percy had stopped listening after 'child of Ares'.

"What—It can't be the same one," he said skeptically.

Clarisse turned back to Percy with an exaggerated eye-roll. "Oh, _can't_ it?" she shot back sarcastically, flinging her arm out behind her. Percy followed her indication and did a double-take as the drakon swung its head to hiss at Hedge—its right eye was milky white, a jagged, silver cataract etched vertically across the middle. It was the same eye Clarisse had driven an electric spear through almost two years ago—which meant that this was, in fact, the same Lydian drakon that Kronos had summoned, the same Lydian drakon that had killed Silena Beauregard and a number of other campers, and the same Lydian drakon that could only be defeated by a child of the god of war.

Maybe it was a good thing he'd brought Frank after all. If he had to rely totally on Clarisse to kill this monster, he'd probably never hear the end of it.

"Well, uh…" Percy said intelligently, trying to come up with a plan around his persistent headache. "Guess that means the killing blow is up to you two. Hazel and I'll get in close and distract it, while—"

"_Please_," Clarisse interrupted, rolling her eyes again. It was clear she was already in a foul mood, and the appearance of Percy and Frank couldn't have helped that. "Better sit this one out, Zhang. Leave it to a real warrior."

An angry flush crept up Frank's neck. "Hey, I'm just as much a child of war as you are—"

"Uh, guys?" the boy with the scar interrupted them. "Maybe somebody better tell that goat the plan? Because _his_ idea doesn't seem promising."

Percy leaned around Clarisse to see Hedge back on his feet and running toward the drakon, waving both arms above his head and yelling like a maniac. Percy's heart almost stopped as the creature snapped at the satyr and missed. Hedge leapt onto the drakon's back and straddled it like a horse, sitting up and whacking its titanium scales repeatedly with his bat and shouting, "Take that! And that! Back to the Underworld hole you came from, worm!"

Percy groaned. "Oh, for the love of… Alright, we've got to move _now_. I don't care if you two can't work together," he said flatly to Clarisse and Frank, "but just don't get in each other's way. Lou Ellen, stay by those guys. Hazel, you're with me. We're gonna—no, Clarisse, wait! Don't just—!"

But she wasn't listening. With a smart retort of "Who put you in charge, Jackson?" she charged the drakon head-on, holding her spear high. The creature looked down at her with its good eye and opened its jaws, spraying a stream of golden poison that Clarisse just barely dodged. The steaming liquid sank into the ground, melting the concrete at the base of the museum stairs.

Clucking his tongue in annoyance, Percy shot a glance at Hazel and Frank, who nodded, and followed Clarisse's lead—albeit a bit more carefully. The drakon was still trying to bite or poison Clarisse, who was dodging back and forth while avoiding looking into its paralyzing eye. Percy approached the right side of its neck and attempted to stick the point of his sword between two of its scales, but it shifted and threw off his aim. The bronze blade glanced off the monster's armor and Percy stumbled, staggering sideways into the creature's body. It still seemed occupied with other prey, so he held onto it and struck again, this time succeeding in stabbing its flesh between the armored scales. It roared and whipped its head around, teeth spread wide, and he barely had time to feel accomplished at getting its attention before he had to dive to the side to keep from being impaled on a dozen thin, pointy chompers. He rolled onto his back in time to see the drakon lunge for him again. He scooted frantically backward before an arrow with blue fletching and an odd, flat tip smacked the drakon on the nose. Its head jerked sideways like it had just been hit by a car and it hissed and spewed poison angrily in all directions.

"What was that?" Percy asked Frank as the son of Mars suddenly appeared by his side and pulled him to his feet, bow in hand.

"Sonic impact arrow. The Apollo kids have come up with some pretty neat stuff lately."

Percy looked over Frank's shoulder to see that his quiver was full of arrows with an array of different-colored fletches, each likely indicating a special effect. "Sweet," he said with an appreciative nod.

There wasn't much time to dwell on it, however, as the drakon seemed to locate where the offending projectile had come from and sprayed a mess of yellow poison in their direction. Percy and Frank were forced to leap aside to dodge it. Frank reached around his back and snatched another arrow, this one decorated with white fletching and a narrow, triangular tip. When the drakon turned its head toward them, he nocked and loosed it, hardly taking aim, and it cut the air before embedding itself resolutely at the base of the creature's good eye. The drakon shrieked in pain and retracted its head, but its roar suddenly grew louder as thin bolts of electricity sparked across its face. Clarisse shot a look at Frank that was somewhere between resentful and impressed, but apparently she had nothing to say. Percy supposed this was a step in the right direction.

If any of them had been hoping this would be enough to kill it, they were disappointed. The drakon raised its head high, leaning far up from the ground, and Hedge, who was still on its back, bellowed, "WOO-HOO! Now that's what I call a rodeo!" What he could possibly be holding onto, Percy had no idea, but miraculously he managed not to be thrown from the drakon's back as it hissed and swiveled around in an effort to bite Hazel and Clarisse at the same time, evidently convinced that the thing that had blinded it had come from that direction.

"Help distract it," Percy told Frank, "I'll get Hedge!" Frank nodded and ran immediately off toward Hazel and Clarisse, and Percy started toward the monster's side while wondering what the best way to keep the satyr from getting himself killed would be. "Coach!" he shouted, trying to get his attention. "Hey, COACH!" It was no use. Hedge was having the time of his life up there, and no insistence that he was very close to falling and breaking his neck was likely to get through.

Percy looked around for help. The JKO Reservoir lay behind him a ways, probably too far to reach quickly or to call water from. There was, however, a small lake across the road from the grassy patch in from the Met, only a score or so of yards from where he stood. That would work nicely.

He raised a hand and focused on the water, feeling a pulling sensation in his gut as it began to move. His head ached painfully—the mental strain aggravating the minor injury from before. He probably should have grabbed some nectar or ambrosia before leaving camp, but it didn't matter now. He would just have to ignore it. He couldn't see the lake that well in the darkness, so instead he concentrated on instinct alone and formed a fist with his hand, pulling it back against his side. Not a second later, a stream of water about twelve feet long and three feet wide hurtled into Coach Hedge, knocking him from the drakon's back with a surprised splutter and dumping him unceremoniously at Percy's feet.

"Who was it?" Hedge demanded at once, hooves scrambling on the now-wet grass as he fought to stand. "Who else wants to challenge me? Come out, coward, and face me like a man!"

"Coach, it's me!" Percy answered, leaping backward when the satyr turned on the spot and swung his bat (he wouldn't be falling victim to _that_ again). "It's not a challenge! Calm down!"

"Jackson? That you? Well, butter my fur and call me toast—when did you get here? Never one to turn down a fight, are you, kid? I always knew you were the right sort—just like me, I said. Yup, just like ol' Coach."

Percy grimaced. The day he would admit to being 'just like ol' Coach' would be the day he and Clarisse got married.

"So what are we waiting for?" Hedge exclaimed. "Let's show this lizard who's boss!"

"No—wait!" Percy lunged after Hedge, but those short little goat legs could really move. In no time, Hedge was back at the drakon's side, whacking his metal bat against its scales with what looked like a surprising amount of force. When Percy reached him, he realized that one of the scales had actually dented under the pressure.

"How did you do that?" he demanded, staring dumbfounded at the tiny indents that now numbered about five.

"What does it look like?" Hedge called back over the sound of another loud _whack_.

"But… You…" Percy ducked to avoid getting his skull cracked on the satyr's backswing. "What the heck is that bat made of?"

Hedge turned to face him, suddenly serious. "Justice, Jackson," he answered sagely, a hand over his heart. "Justice."

Percy stared at him, unsure whether to laugh or smack his forehead. Before he could decide, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned in time to realize with a jolt that Hedge's relentless bludgeoning had succeeded in reclaiming the drakon's full attention and its mouth was now shooting toward them at an impressive speed. Percy yelped in alarm and grabbed the shoulders of Hedge's T-shirt, dragging him backward and throwing them both out of the way. As soon as its jaws snapped closed, however, the drakon swung its head to the side, looking for its prey—and subsequently smacking into said prey and throwing it skyward. Percy and Hedge both soared through the air and landed yards away, rolling hard across the grass.

Percy must have blacked out for a few seconds, because the next thing he knew he was lying on his stomach and someone was shaking his shoulder, their voice a distant sort of roar in his ear. He groaned and pulled his hands up beneath him, pushing himself up from the ground. The hand on his shoulder was pulled away, and he glanced sideways to see Hazel kneeling beside him, her sword on the ground at her feet.

"What's going on?" he asked, sitting back and wincing. His ribs were sore where the drakon's armored head had slammed into him, and his head hurt much worse than before. The breastplate he'd been wearing during training was dented and poked painfully at his chest, so he shrugged it off and threw it aside. Looking around, he saw Frank nudging Hedge a few feet away, but to no avail. The satyr appeared to be out like a light.

"This isn't working," a curt voice behind Percy answered, and he twisted around to see Clarisse standing stiffly and staring in the opposite direction. "We need a new plan."

"Lou Ellen's distracting the drakon," Hazel informed him, "but we haven't got much time."

Percy struggled to his feet, fighting back a brief wash of dizziness, and followed Clarisse's gaze to see that Lou Ellen had apparently enchanted three leafy bushes to come to life and hop around the drakon's head, confusing it. It was snapping at each one in turn, sometimes catching a branch or a few leaves, but they kept bouncing over its nose or just out of its reach.

"This is just perfect," Clarisse muttered, a sour look on her face.

"Well, you killed the thing before," Percy grumbled, not in the mood for her bad attitude. He stood up and she turned toward him, an eyebrow raised.

"I had the blessing of Ares last time," she snapped. She looked sideways at Frank at these words as though expecting him to either roar in jealousy or bow down and kiss her boots. When her brother did neither of those things, she folded her arms and scowled at the grass.

"No," Percy argued slowly, trying to remember their last battle against the Lydian drakon. "No, you got the blessing after. You killed the drakon out of rage after it killed Silena. You know, when she was pretending to be you to lead your cabin into battle because you were too busy pouting about some petty—"

"Whatever!" Clarisse interrupted, glowering at Percy while she flushed in anger. "The point is, the situation is different."

"How? It's still the drakon that killed Silena."

"I _know _that! There's just… something about failing a friend that gives you strength, okay? And I'm sorry, but I really don't think I'd feel the same if something happened to any of _you_, meaning it's not likely to go down that way again." She huffed and glared at something off to her right, and Percy decided not to argue. It wasn't like Clarisse to admit to failing at something, and all this talk of what had happened to Silena, who had been a good friend of hers, must have been getting to her. "So why don't you come up with another genius plan?" she demanded after a minute of awkward silence. "You know, instead of pushing everything on me."

"Alright, alright." Percy turned away from Clarisse; watching her scowl at him certainly wasn't going to clear his mind. She was right, though—they did need a plan. And fast, if the strained look on Lou Ellen's face was any indication. Percy pressed both hands to the sides of his head, wishing the sharp ache would go away. The buzzing was really getting annoying.

"It's still bothering you, isn't it?"

Percy raised his head to see Frank watching him guiltily. "No, I'm fine," he lied. "Really. Everything's completely—" But Frank was obviously unconvinced, so Percy breathed out shortly and admitted, "Alright, yeah, a little. But it's no big deal, I mean, with the right plan and all of us together we can still—"

A raspy roar interrupted and Percy spun toward the drakon—but something wasn't right. The sound hadn't come from that direction at all, and the drakon was still snapping and biting at the hopping shrubs. In front of him, Clarisse was staring wide-eyed at something over his shoulder, her face frozen like a mask. Heart sinking in dread, he turned slowly and could just make out through the darkness the long, slithering form of a second drakon slinking toward them from the east bank of the reservoir, sliding along the jogging path as though it had just spotted some tasty demigods while out for its evening run.

Frank gulped. "Now I'm _really_ wishing I hadn't hit you on the head."

"Yeah," Percy agreed in a small voice. "Me, too."

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><p><strong>I've been so looking forward to writing Frank and Clarisse together. It's rather fun.<strong>

**Anyway, as you can imagine, next chapter is also action-y and about the same length, with an added major plot advancement at the end! Woo-hoo! Review for me and I'll throw it up sooner rather than later ;)**

**Later days!**

**-oMM**


	27. XXVII Percy

**Hey gang! Another Tuesday, another update. Thanks to those of you who reviewed for me! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XXVII<br>PERCY**

"Okay…" Clarisse said slowly as all eyes fixed on their new visitor. "Now what?"

The second drakon was smaller than the first, its scales a much darker gray that helped it blend with the eternal night around it. Both its eyes were intact, however, shining pale gold light on the ground as it slithered menacingly nearer.

"Well, we've got no choice now," Percy said reluctantly. "We've got to split up. Letting those two things get near each other feels like a bad idea to me, how 'bout you guys?"

"Chat time's over!" Lou Ellen called from where she and the three boys stood a few feet away. The first drakon had succeeded in swallowing two of her shrubs and was now busy tearing the third in half. She abandoned the enchantment and ushered her charges over to the rest of the group. "We've got seconds before that thing realizes we're still here."

"Okay, okay," Percy said quickly, thinking fast. "Look, the Lydian drakon's the only one that has to be killed by a child of Ares, right? So technically, the other one is anyone's game. Clarisse and Frank, you guys should both stick with the first guy. Hazel, you back them up. Lou Ellen and I'll, uh… take care of the new one." He shot a questioning glance at Lou Ellen, and she nodded grimly.

"Right," Hazel said at once, and she and Frank hefted their weapons and started over to reengage their friend. Clarisse rested her spear over her shoulder and followed without a word or so much as a look back, which Percy was more than happy about. He didn't need an affirmation from her—a simple lack of argument was definitely good enough.

"You guys should hide," Percy addressed the boys behind Lou Ellen.

"I can help you," the older guy volunteered, stepping forward and clenching his hands into fists.

Percy raised an eyebrow at him, trying not to focus on that creepy white eye. "You ever fought a drakon before?"

"Well, no—"

"Then trust me, now's not a good time to try it. You look like you can handle yourself, I'll give you that. But drakons are a whole different ballgame than gang fights behind closed grocery stores." The guy scowled but didn't argue. He'd probably seen enough of the battle so far to know that drakons weren't exactly pushovers. Even if he had some battle skills, there was no way he'd be ready to fight a monster like a drakon. Percy knew what it was like to start your demigod battle career on something considerably overwhelming—his first real fight against the Minotaur had been terrifying.

"Look," he went on, "watch the kids, okay? All three of you get somewhere safe."

"I can help with that," Lou Ellen suggested. She waved her hand, and suddenly the three boys vanished.

"Whoa," Percy said appreciatively. "Where'd they go?" He stepped forward and reached toward the empty air in which the tallest boy had just been standing. But his fingers hit some invisible force, a voice yelled "Ow!", and he jumped backward in surprise saying, "Whoops, sorry."

"They're still there," Lou Ellen explained, rolling her eyes. "I just made the Mist around them denser."

"I thought half-bloods could see through the Mist."

"In normal quantities, yeah. But if it's thick enough, it can fool even the most trained minds. The drakons won't see them through this."

Deciding that that was as good a hiding place as any, Percy shrugged and started toward the smaller drakon, Lou Ellen on his heels. They needed to head it off before it got too close; that way the two fights would stay separate. It saw them coming a few yards away and gave a great roaring hiss, spewing greenish-yellow poison on the pavement.

Percy and Lou Ellen stopped just outside its reach. "Got a plan?" Lou Ellen asked.

"Yeah. Not dying."

"Good plan."

With that, the drakon lashed out and they both leapt to opposite sides. Percy struck instinctively with Riptide, but predictably the blade bounced off the monster's dark scales. It swung its head toward him and he ducked, rolling across the ground. He stabbed upward, hoping to find a weak spot, and miraculously his blade buried itself at the base of the drakon's neck. It shrieked and jerked, yanking the sword from Percy's grip and spraying a mouthful of poison in every direction. A few tiny drops landed on Percy's forearm as he ducked out of the way, and small as they were his arm suddenly felt like it had been dunked in boiling water. Biting back a scream, he staggered away from the drakon, looking around to make sure Lou Ellen hadn't been hit. He didn't see her, and before he could decide whether to look for her or try to get his sword back he suddenly stepped backward into empty air. The jogging path dropped down a step into a muddy slope and he hadn't been paying attention to how close it was. With a surprised yell, he tripped backward and slid down through the mud directly into the shallow bank of the reservoir.

The water didn't inhibit his breathing, just like always, but regardless he still seemed to choke on it in surprise. After all, he hadn't been expecting to be suddenly submerged like that. He stood up into dry air, breathing heavily, and shook his head to regain his bearings, blinking away another brief dizzy spell. His clothes felt damp, which was surprising—until he looked down and realized he was covered in mud. With a groan, he ducked back under the water and willed it to wash away the grime, deciding that wet was better than muddy in any case. When he stood up again, he realized something else—the brand-new burns on his arm hadn't healed, but the pain had disappeared. This wasn't saltwater, after all, but it was water, which was evidently good for at least that. The only unfortunate fact was that it didn't do anything for his headache.

Feeling better regardless and suddenly a lot more confident, Percy looked up, craning his neck to get a good look at the drakon. Lou Ellen had drawn a long dagger, sort of like a dirk, and was dodging the monster's teeth while simultaneously trying to get a good shot at any spot between its scales. Deciding to give her a hand, Percy dug his feet into the mud and reached out to the water around him with his mind. All around him it responded, rising up behind him in a great wave that towered over his head. He raised his arms and thrust them forward, sending the wave harmlessly past him and hurtling up the hill. Ahead, Lou Ellen turned at the disturbance, and her mouth dropped open just before gallons and gallons of water crashed into both her and the drakon.

Flinching in alarm, Percy scrambled up the muddy hill and hurried across the wet and slippery grass. The drakon had, thankfully, taken the brunt of the attack and was now thrashing around on its side, slipping on the damp ground. Lou Ellen was lying on her back a ways away from it. Percy ran up to her just as she sat up and spit out a mouthful of water.

"Sorry," he said at once. He hadn't meant for her to be hit as well, but thankfully she seemed to be alright.

"It's okay. But, you know, maybe a warning next time? Tsunami baths aren't exactly my favorite kind."

He helped her back to her feet as the drakon roared in anger, righting itself and lunging for them immediately. Lou Ellen turned and must have met its eyes, because she seemed to freeze in fear. Without looking at the monster, Percy grabbed the daughter of Hecate and dragged her back to the ground, throwing them both out of harm's way as the drakon's head skirted past them. Not wanting to wait for it to attack again, Percy snatched Lou Ellen's arms and stumbled to his feet, yanking her after him. They backed a good few yards away from the creature, which now rested between them and the reservoir.

Percy felt the weight of his sword returning to his pocket, which provided a small bit of comfort. Still, they needed a plan. He chanced a glance over his shoulder at the others, a bit afraid of what he'd see, but Clarisse, Frank, and Hazel were all still standing, though they didn't appear to have made much progress. Arrows were sticking out of the Lydian drakon's flesh in a few places and green blood was trickling over its silver armor, but its attacks seemed just as vicious as ever.

Lou Ellen drew his attention back to their battle by shoving him roughly to the side before the black drakon could swallow them both whole. They landed side by side on the wet grass and rolled to avoid the following spray of poison that sizzled against the ground. Percy dug his hand into the pocket of his damp jeans and pulled out his sword, uncapping it immediately so the gleaming bronze blade grew to life in his hands. He knew the eyes were a drakon's biggest weakness—easier to hit than the tiny chinks in its armor—but they weren't exactly a cakewalk to get to. The drakon reared again and opened its mouth, lunging at the ground with surprising speed. Lou Ellen dodged left and Percy dodged right. On a whim, he leapt for the monster's head the instant it hit the ground, throwing his arms over it and digging his fingers under its scales to keep hold. It pulled its head back again and Percy felt his feet leave the ground as he suddenly rose twenty feet in the air. He heard Lou Ellen call his name, but if he released any small bit of concentration he'd lose his grip and fall. It took all his strength and probably looked extremely ungraceful, but somehow he managed to swing his left leg over the top of the monster's head, getting a better hold, and with a strained yell he reached forward and stabbed Riptide into its right eye.

The drakon gave a raspy howl and swung its head in pain. With only one hand now holding on, Percy felt his grip loosen and his eyes widened as he was thrown from the monster's back. For an instant he readied himself for a very painful landing, but it never came. Something solid wrapped around his ankle and stopped his trajectory midflight. Dangling upside down in the air, he tried to lean up and see what had caught him, but the shock must have messed with his brain because he could have sworn he saw an angel.

A second later he was dropped a foot or so to the ground and he got a real look at his rescuer to see that it was, in fact, an angel—a stone angel, one of the statues from a nearby monument. It gave him an absurd-looking salute before spreading its gray wings and taking flight again. Percy stared after it wordlessly as it disappeared into the darkness.

"You okay?" Lou Ellen asked as she ran up and held out a hand, which Percy took sort of numbly.

"Yeah. Did you just…?"

She waved a hand dismissively. "Object animation is kind of my specialty. It was better than letting you fall, right?"

Percy grinned. "I'd say so. Thanks."

A reptilian snarl interrupted and they both rounded on the monster, which was still swinging its head and trying to free the sword from its eye. Percy had been hoping that blow might be enough to take it down, but unfortunately that didn't seem to be the case. They would need to try something else. He let his eyes sweep over their surroundings, and when they landed once again on the reservoir, an idea began to form.

Percy turned back to Lou Ellen. "Think you can get it into the water?"

She gave him a careful look, seeming to realize that he had some sort of plan. "I can try," she replied.

He nodded and said, "Then try," before turning and taking off for the reservoir. He skirted a wide berth around the monster, trying not to draw its attention. Thankfully it didn't notice him. It did, however, appear to give up its conquest on the blade still lodged in its eyeball and instead face the ground, its one remaining searchlight-like eye scouring the area for prey. Lou Ellen held out a hand and two park benches from the lawn across the road from the Met sprang to life, skipping toward the drakon as though about to engage it in a game of hopscotch.

They weren't far away, which meant that time would be short. Percy sprinted across the jogging trail and slid down the small, muddy incline to the reservoir. He strode right into the water and waded out until it rose a few inches above his waist, then closed his eyes, once again reaching out to it with his mind. He would need as much help from it as he could get, and seeing as it wasn't seawater he wasn't sure how easy that would be. Controlling it before hadn't been difficult, but this task would require a lot more strength and concentration.

Before long, he felt ripples on the water's surface and realized that the snarling had grown louder. He opened his eyes to see that Lou Ellen had accomplished her task—the benches were dancing over the reservoir, taking turns smacking the drakon in the nose as it slid into the water, chasing after them and trying to bite them out of the air. Percy stayed still where he was, a mere ten feet from the monster's scaly body, but it didn't seem to notice him. It slithered past him in pursuit of the benches, and he forced himself to stay calm and wait until the end of its tail had slid onto the muddy incline before turning to face its head.

The tables had led it in a wide circle so that its body was curled in on itself, half-submerged in water with its head rearing up every few seconds for an attack. Percy gathered his strength and clenched both hands into fists, feeling a wrenching pain twist in his stomach as all the water around the drakon began to shift and slide, slowly rising and washing over it. It took a few seconds for it to realize something was wrong, and by then the water had just closed over its head, forming a sort of blanket. The surface of the reservoir was no longer flat and now had a large, drakon-shaped bump in it as the monster was trapped beneath a curtain of dark water.

The drakon flailed and writhed, trying to break free of the watery sheet holding it down, and it was all Percy could do to keep his hold. Just a little bit longer, he told himself. It couldn't last forever. Just hang on a little longer. It was suddenly getting hard to breathe, like he was trapped under a suffocating river of swirling water just like the drakon. He felt like something was trying to yank his lungs from his chest. But it was almost over. It had to be.

And then finally, after a very long minute, the monster's struggling weakened. Its movement slowed to a stop, and the long, spiral lump vanished as black dust rose to the surface of the reservoir and the water grew still.

Percy gasped as all of a sudden he could breathe again. Remaining on his feet was difficult when his legs felt a lot like warm Jell-O, but somehow he made his way back up the bank and over the sidewalk before collapsing on the grass and lying flat on his back, eyes closed and chest heaving like he'd just run a marathon.

"Did you just… drown it?" Lou Ellen asked from somewhere above him.

"Yeah," he replied breathlessly. "Barely. Not a trick I'll be pulling off again anytime soon." He was too lightheaded to stand up, let alone try controlling any more water.

"Wow," was her only reply.

But then a kid's voice spoke up, "That was AWESOME! You guys are CRAZY!"

Confused, Percy opened his eyes and turned his head, but he couldn't see anyone aside from Lou Ellen. She caught a glimpse of the look on his face and smiled in amusement, before waving her hand in the air. The three boys she'd been protecting earlier materialized about four feet to her right.

"Oh, yeah," Percy muttered after a brief start. "You guys."

"Do all half-bloods have magic powers?" the older of the two brothers asked with wide eyes.

"A lot do," Lou Ellen explained with a shrug. "Though it's different for everyone. And don't expect to be able to do something like _that_." She nodded at the reservoir, then jerked her head toward Percy. "This kid's, well… special."

Percy pushed himself up on his elbows and shot Lou Ellen a pointed look. "You make me sound like an idiot."

Her mouth twitched in a smile. "A very useful idiot. Heck of an introduction, though." She glanced at the boys. "You just got to see one of Camp Half-Blood's best in action. Welcome to the life of a demigod."

The guy with the scar looked impressed but wary, but there was something about the excited grins on the two younger ones' faces that bothered Percy. Climbing slowly and shakily to his feet, he looked at Lou Ellen and jerked his head, beckoning her forward. She walked closer and he said in a low voice, "You did tell them what camp is like right now, right? About the war and everything?"

"Of course I did," she insisted. "But, well… You know how kids are." She shot a sympathetic sort of look toward the young brothers. "Let's not ruin this for them, okay? Hope still matters, doesn't it?"

His eyes traveled over her shoulder to the kids behind her. The older guy looked serious, like he understood the danger of the situation they were in. But the two younger boys were now talking excitedly, probably speculating what special abilities they could have. Percy was reminded suddenly with a painful pang of the first time he'd met Nico di Angelo and his sister Bianca. Nico, like the two kids now, had been excited to learn that he was half-Greek-god at first. But then before long the reality of the life of a half-blood sent all that happiness crashing down around him, turning him against the world that made it happen. He wasn't the same innocent kid anymore. He wasn't really the same at all. How long would it be before the same thing happened to these boys?

"Yeah," he replied after a minute. "Yeah, it still matters." Lou Ellen was right—any small bit of hope had to be kept alive. It was the only way any of them would make it out of this.

Lou Ellen smiled as though she'd followed the same thought process. She opened her mouth, but before any sound came out, a shrill scream interrupted her. Percy whipped his head toward the sound, unconsciously running a few feet and skidding to a halt when he saw Hazel on the ground beside the Lydian drakon, smoke rising from her armor.

"Hazel!" he yelled, throat tightening in dread. How had he forgotten about the other creature, even for a second? His friends were still in danger, and here he was standing around doing nothing to help them. He jerked forward, but Frank had already stumbled up beside Hazel. He looked down briefly with wide, anxious eyes, before turning to the drakon with a furious expression. He grabbed four arrows with bright orange fletching and nocked them all at once, drawing and loosing in half a second. The arrows flew into the drakon's open mouth and it reared, shaking its head back and forth.

When it didn't immediately turn to dust, Clarisse, who was standing nearby holding only the top half of her spear, snarled angrily, "Well, now that we've _fed_ it—"

"GET DOWN!" Frank shouted, completely ignoring her. He threw himself over Hazel and Clarisse snapped her gaze back to the drakon just as a great, fiery explosion ignited at the back of its throat. Clarisse was thrown off her feet by the force, landing hard on the grass as Percy and the others stumbled in the resulting hot breeze. The monster gave a thunderous roar as its head and neck were disintegrated by the heat, and a burning cloud of flame rose quickly into the sky and faded as the rest of the Lydian drakon turned to dust.

And just like that, it was over. Both drakons were dead.

Legs still wobbly, Percy ran toward Frank and Hazel, sliding to his knees as Frank dropped down and leaned over her. The drakon has sprayed her with poison, but it wasn't as bad as it had looked from far away. Most of it had been blocked by her armor, which was now melting more by the second. Frank grabbed the straps and tore them, yanking the mangled metal from Hazel's chest and tossing it away. Some of the liquid had landed on her shoulder and burned through her T-shirt. Beneath it, a small patch of her skin was dark red.

"Are you okay?" Frank demanded, leaning over the wound. "How bad is it? Anybody have some ambrosia?"

"Our stock is out," Lou Ellen, who had hurried up behind Percy, informed them regretfully. "We can get some back at camp."

"I'm so sorry," Frank said to Hazel, shaking his head. "I missed that shot. It shouldn't have attacked you."

"No, it's okay," Hazel insisted with a smile. "I'm okay. I promise. It's fine, see?" She shifted her shoulder and winced, but her movement was okay, which meant that the burn couldn't have been too bad. Frank smiled weakly and bent forward, leaning his forehead against Hazel's.

"See what I mean?" Clarisse spoke up as she approached, brushing dirt and dust from her clothes. "Failing someone you care about gives a child of Ares strength. We're protectors, plain and simple." Her voice was gruff, but Percy noticed something about her words—it was the first time she spoke of herself and Frank as equals. She was actually acknowledging him as her sibling. Frank seemed to realize this, too, because he sat up and gave her a stunned sort of look. She met his eyes briefly, before sniffing loudly and turning away, throwing her broken spear over her shoulder. It seemed that was all the sentimentality they were going to get from her.

"The other drakon?" Hazel asked as she sat up, shrugging off Frank's attempt to help.

"Sent to a watery grave," Percy said with a grin, climbing back to his feet. "Let's get out of here before more show up." He looked around for Coach Hedge and found him snoring a few yards away, perfectly oblivious to the end of the fight.

As Frank and Hazel stood, Lou Ellen frowned thoughtfully. "Where do you think they—?"

Suddenly Percy's head exploded in pain. He yelled and staggered backward, doubling over and gripping his head with both hands. Everything around him vanished and without warning there was Erebos, standing in front of a huge, black throne made of dark glass that rose in jagged spires. The empty, shadowy holes where his eyes should have been seemed to stare straight into Percy's mind. He couldn't move. He didn't know if what he was seeing was real. And when the King of Darkness spoke, his voice echoed from all directions at once.

"Percy Jackson. It's good to see you again." He didn't seem to want a reply, which was good because Percy wasn't sure he could give one. The whole image flickered and became brighter, and he realized that Erebos wasn't alone. His pale hands were resting on the shoulders of a terrified-looking Asian girl with long, black hair—their missing camper, Drew Tanaka.

Annabeth had been right, and the time for Erebos's ransom request had come.

"I take it you've been wondering where your friend had gone?" the god asked with a ghost of a smile. He slid his fingers through a lock of Drew's hair and she cringed. "Allow me to end your search for you." He turned his hand over and a shiny, black blade formed from shadow between his fingers—a blade he swept wordlessly across Drew's throat.

Her eyes widened as blood spurted from her neck and Percy wanted to scream, but he knew now that this was only a real-time vision sent to him from Mount Olympus. He was helpless to watch as Erebos nudged Drew's shoulder forward and she slumped heavily to the floor, twitching weakly before falling completely, deathly still.

"Now that I have your attention," Erebos said, looking coldly pleased, "I would like to make you an offer. The lives of your friends against your freedom. You will come to me, unarmed, on Mount Olympus, or more of your friends will die." He smiled. "And do not think their deaths will be temporary. The god of death is now reporting to me." A low, rumbling chuckle reverberated around the room as Erebos laughed. "You have one day to make your decision. If you choose rebellion, then each day following another of the people you swore to protect will die. How many will you fail before you give in to the darkness? The choice, Percy Jackson, is yours."

His evil smirk widened, and he finished confidently, "Until soon we meet again." And with that, darkness swirled over Erebos, the vision flickered and faded, and Percy was back in Central Park as though nothing had happened at all.

He was in shock. The images of Erebos's shadowy eyeholes and Drew's bleeding, still body flashed across his mind. She was dead, and it was his fault. Erebos wanted _him_. And he was willing to kill anyone to get what he wanted. The days they'd spent biding their time, training up and waiting for the King of Darkness to act were over. Now, the real battle was about to begin.

Looking up, Percy saw his friends all straightening and looking shaken as well. Frank had a hand against his forehead and Hazel was leaning on him, her mouth open in shock. Lou Ellen had tears in her eyes.

Slowly, all eyes turned and stared at Percy and he swallowed hard, his heart turning to lead. "Let me guess," he said weakly. "You guys saw that, too?"

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><p><strong>OH SNAP!<strong>

**So every time I write the phrase "lean up", Microsoft Word underlines it in blue and asks if I meant "clean up". No, Microsoft Word. Read the sentence that way and tell me it makes sense, because it doesn't. Yeesh. Stupid office software thinking it's smarter than me.**

**Anyway, whatever. How 'bout a review? I'll probably update on Friday. Next chapter's about the length of this one.**

**Later days, guys!**

**-oMM**


	28. XXVIII Piper

**Woo, another Friday! Thanks to all of you who reviewed last chapter - glad I can still surprise you guys, haha. Think I can do it a few more times? We'll find out later! Heh heh.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XXVIII<br>PIPER**

The council was restless. They'd been called together so suddenly that evening without warning or explanation, their only clue being that an extraction team had just returned to camp and gone straight to Chiron. Something important must have happened, because within minutes all the council members present had been rounded up and ordered to the Big House rec room immediately.

Piper had been eating at the pavilion when Jason's sister Thalia had approached her. At first, she'd been worried Thalia was planning to start some sort of confrontation about Jason. But all the hunter had said was that Chiron had called an emergency council meeting, and that at the moment no one knew the reason. So now here she was, sitting in the big, cushy armchair Leo liked to occupy while all around her people spoke in hushed whispers, speculating the cause of the sudden gathering.

Piper thought the council appeared rather sparse. Leo, Nico, and Reyna were missing of course, still off on their quest. Nyssa, a tough, scary-looking girl from the Hephaestus cabin, was filling in for her brother. Butch had returned from the infirmary with a cast on his leg, though in return they'd lost Travis Stoll, who was still in a coma. Connor and Katie were sitting together, both ashen-faced and silent. Will Solace stood in a corner, his face shadowy. Jason and Octavian sat on opposite sides of the room, very obviously avoiding each other's eyes and each surrounded by a few Roman centurions—all except Pete, who still couldn't walk, and Frank and Hazel, whose whereabouts Piper didn't know. Clovis was snoring on the couch again, with Pollux from Dionysus poking him every now and then in a weak effort to wake him. Lou Ellen of Hecate and Clarisse of Ares were missing as well. Lastly, Thalia was leaning against the wall beside Piper's chair and Annabeth was pacing impatiently past them, looking highly anxious. Her boyfriend's absence was perhaps the most conspicuous of all of them.

"Would you stop that?" Piper said suddenly, exasperated. "That pacing is making me nervous."

Annabeth halted abruptly, biting her lip. "I can't help it. Earlier, Miranda told me… I mean, if it was that bad, we'd know right away, wouldn't we? Nothing could have…" And with that helpful bit of information, she shook her head adamantly and resumed her pacing. Piper growled in frustration and dropped her head into her hands. This waiting was driving her nuts.

Suddenly—finally—the door opened and Chiron strode in, wheelchair-less and in full centaur mode. He had to duck to fit through the doorway. Once he'd entered and moved across to the largest empty space, a group of people followed him in—Percy, Clarisse, Frank, Lou Ellen, and three boys Piper didn't know. Presumably they were the demigods the extraction team had been sent to recover. Annabeth exhaled and immediately rushed forward, throwing her arms around Percy with a cry of "Oh, thank the gods! I thought…" But she pulled back and noticed the look on his face at the same time Piper did—a strange mix of worry and pain. "What's wrong?" Annabeth asked softly.

Percy placed a hand on her arm and guided her a step to the side, his eyes sliding over the room. Everyone was watching him, so quiet they could have been holding their breath. Piper took a second to survey their appearances—all four campers bore a number of small cuts, bruises, and burns and looked generally worse for wear. It was clear they'd just been in some kind of fight. But what Percy said next was something nobody was expecting: "Drew's dead."

No one spoke. Piper felt like she'd been stabbed in the gut. Her half-sister was… dead? How? Why? That couldn't be right. Sure, she had never particularly _liked_ Drew. But she couldn't imagine her just… not being there.

"How do you know?" someone asked. Piper was still too stunned to realize who.

"We…" Percy began, his voice faltering. He exchanged a glance with Lou Ellen, who blinked a tear from her eye and looked down. "We saw Erebos kill her."

The silence shattered like thin glass.

"You saw Erebos?"

"Where was he?"

"How'd you get away?"

"What happened?"

"We saw a _vision_," Percy shouted over the many voices. "In Central Park. We were fighting these two drakons and—"

"Drakons?"

"Erebos has _drakons?_"

"_Two_ of them?"

"_Enough!_" Chiron's voice instantly silenced the crowd as he stamped his hooves on the floor. "If you would please refrain from interrupting, I'm sure Percy and the others will be more than happy to fully explain what has happened." He turned and nodded to them, folding his arms across his chest. The situation had to be serious for Chiron to seem so distressed, which people must have begun to realize as the muttering did not continue.

"We, uh…" Percy went on, looking distracted, "we beat the drakons and were about to head back when we all suddenly had the same vision. It was Erebos, sending us a message. I mean, uh… sending _me_ a message." His eyes turned a bit cloudy and he grimaced as though in pain. He opened his mouth, but hesitated.

Clarisse was watching him with narrowed eyes. Then she took over abruptly, "He wanted Jackson to turn himself in—go to Olympus unarmed and surrender. Every day he doesn't, Erebos plans to kill somebody from the camp."

The little color in Percy's face seemed to vanish, confirming that Clarisse hadn't been exaggerating. A few people gasped in surprise. Piper felt her eyes widen. Katie threw a hand over her mouth. Annabeth's hand jerked like she wanted to reach toward her boyfriend, but she seemed to resist the urge and instead only watched him with sad eyes.

"So… he killed Drew just to prove a point?" Will asked, revulsion on his face. Piper felt a swell of anger toward the King of Darkness. She knew gods didn't have much regard for human lives, but that was going too far.

Connor leaned forward and asked with a frown, "What does he want with you, Percy?"

Percy blinked at the sound of his name, seeming to rejoin the conversation from some sort of dream. "I don't know," he answered, "but I'll find out soon enough. I'm doing what he says."

"No, you're not," Annabeth argued at once, crossing her arms resolutely.

Her boyfriend rounded on her. "Yes, I am," he repeated in the exact same tone of voice. "I'm not letting him kill anyone else."

"So we increase border security," Annabeth shot back. "No one leaves camp. If he can't get to us, he can't hurt us. Percy, we don't even know why he needs you. There's no sense in letting him win until we at least figure out what's going on."

"Sure would be great if we had the gods' help right about now," Butch pointed out.

Which brought up an important question. "Hey," Piper said with a frown, "shouldn't Leo and the others have reached Death Valley by now?"

A low murmur of assent rippled across the room as everyone realized the truth in this statement. Leo had claimed they could make the trip in fourteen hours. It had been nearly twenty-four, and still their situation remained unchanged. If all had gone according to plan, the gods would have awoken by now. Had they run into trouble? Was Hypnos not in Death Valley at all? Were they even still alive?

"There must have been a holdup," Thalia suggested, though she didn't look convinced. "I'm sure they're fine."

"I think if Erebos had found them, he would have been all too happy to let us know," Octavian pointed out. "He didn't mention anything of the sort in his message, did he?" When Frank and Lou Ellen shook their heads, Octavian went on, "Then it should be safe to assume he's still unaware of our little side-mission. If Nyx had either caught them or been defeated, Erebos would be the first to know."

Piper caught Octavian's eye and a silent sort of understanding seemed to pass through them. A sense of pride swept over her—it looked like he'd taken her words to heart after all.

And what was more, he made a very good point. Of course, that didn't mean Leo and the others hadn't run into some other danger along the way, but she was relatively confident that anything less than the goddess of night would be something he, Nico, and Reyna could handle.

"For what it's worth," Chiron spoke up, sounding considerably calmer than before, "I agree with Annabeth. No one—" he glanced sideways at Percy, who avoided his eyes, "—should do anything reckless until we obtain more information. No one will leave camp unless absolutely necessary, and never alone. We aren't taking any chances with the King of Darkness." He paused and glanced first at Jason, then at Octavian. "I can't give orders to the Roman Legion, but I hope you'll agree when I say I see this as the best option."

"It's a good plan," Jason said with a frown.

Octavian nodded to Chiron. "We'll follow your lead." Jason raised his eyebrows at Octavian, but neither he nor any of the other Romans said another word on the matter.

"Very well," Chiron said grimly. "Lou Ellen. Your cabin has been in charge of maintaining the barrier around the camp. If there's anything you can do to strengthen it, now would be an excellent time to do it. Jason, Octavian. I think we should increase the border patrol and overlap the shifts. The Romans are known for their organization and discipline. If you'd accept the task…?" They both nodded curtly, and Chiron inclined his head in thanks. "Nyssa. I understand you and your cabin are working on a solution to our electricity problem?"

Nyssa nodded. "Hydraulic power. Leo's idea. We've managed to modify a few electrical converters to increase output area. All that's left is to re-route all the wiring to the Sound and get the converters installed. Should take another day or so."

"Good, do it," Chiron said. He held a hand out toward the three boys beside Frank. "Lastly, I'd like a volunteer to show our new residents around the camp and explain a bit more of our situation in detail."

"I'll do it," Piper spoke up. She needed something to do to take her mind off of the loss of her sister, and to put off the time until she had to see the rest of her cabin mates.

"Thank you, Piper," Chiron said with a nod. Then he paused a moment, looking at all of them in turn. "Now more than ever, it's important that we work together in this. Apart, we make much easier targets for our enemies to hurt and manipulate. But as one army, we may still be able to resist them. I want you all to inform your cabins and Cohorts of this development—they must know that Erebos is moving. It may scare them, but fear spurs action. And in any case, it's better than a false sense of security we can no longer afford. It's time we all start facing the truth of this war."

Piper hated the way he said that, even though he was right. She wasn't looking forward to bringing the terrible news to her cabin mates. And by the looks on the others' faces, neither were they.

"Where's Hazel?" Annabeth asked after a long moment of tense silence. "Wasn't she with you guys?"

"Infirmary," Frank replied. When a few people looked at him in alarm, he added quickly, "She's okay, just got a bad burn off one of the drakons. Nothing serious."

"It's very lucky none of you were hurt," Chiron put in with a frown. "Drakons aren't to be taken lightly. That you all defeated two with no real injuries is very impressive. That being said, I think we've spent enough time discussing tonight's events. We have work to do." He waved his hands and as one everyone rose to their feet and began shuffling out of the rec room.

Piper was slow to move; her arms and legs felt sort of numb and tingly as the truth of their situation started to sink in, like liquid cement slowly filling her body and weighing her down. The unease among her fellow campers was so obvious and thick it was like walking through a fog. She got up and started toward the door where the new kids were waiting, but stopped when she saw Percy and Annabeth a ways away, talking in harsh whispers that she couldn't make out. It was clear, though, that they were arguing—especially when Percy tore his arm from Annabeth's grip and stalked away from her. Halfway to the door he suddenly stumbled and grunted in pain, hands going to his head, and Piper, now beside him, reached out and grabbed him tightly before he lost his balance. As she steadied him, he fixed her with pained, unfocused eyes and she felt her stomach turn over in alarm.

"What—?" she started to ask, but that was all she got out before he shook his head and pulled away from her, shoving past the remainder of the leaving crowd in a way that was so unlike him that it only further proved how much their situation had changed. Stunned and worried, Piper looked over at Annabeth, who turned away as soon as they made eye contact—which didn't help to ease Piper's anxiety. She knew Annabeth and Percy quite well. They argued, but somehow they were _always_ on the same side, always together. They cared too much about each other to let any sort of fight get between them. And now, this war seemed to be driving even them apart.

Shaking that uncomfortable thought aside, Piper approached the three boys she'd volunteered to show around. "I promise this place isn't usually so depressing," she told them with a small smile, lightening her tone. "I'm Piper. What are your names?"

"Grant Parker," the second-oldest boy, who was probably about nine, introduced himself. "This is my brother, Nathan." The youngest boy grinned, showing two missing teeth.

Piper noticed that the third and oldest guy, who looked to be about her age, was only half paying attention to her and instead glancing warily around the room as everyone filed out. His eyes—one of which was strangely white—kept landing on Chiron with guarded interest.

"You'll get used to him," she told the guy, and he looked down at her as though just realizing she was there. She smiled. "You got a name?"

"Kendall," he answered, looking her up and down critically. "Kendall Donelson."

"Well, boys," Piper said, clapping her hands together. "Let's get this tour started."

-ψ-ψ-ψ-

Grant and Nathan, Piper quickly learned, were very easily excited. They didn't seem to care that they'd just been taken in by a wartime refugee camp. All that mattered to them was that they were now surrounded by a bunch of people who could swordfight and do magic. Piper didn't try too hard to dissuade them from their excitement, though. It lightened her own mood to see even a few people so happy. Good feelings were contagious, after all, and right now they could all use a bit more good feelings.

Kendall was quieter throughout the tour. He listened to everything Piper was saying and took in the sights, but it was clear that at least he understood that they were at war. Judging by the scar over his eye and the way his nose looked like it had been broken and reformed, he'd seen his fair share of fights before. But even a rough childhood couldn't exactly prepare you for an immortal war. Still, a new recruit that made a potential fighter wasn't an unwelcome thing these days.

"So do any of you have an idea who your godly parent is?" Piper asked the boys as they walked up from the fireworks beach. When they all shook their heads, she said, "Don't worry. The gods have been, well… tied up lately. I'm sure we'll get you sorted out once the war is over."

"I wish we could know now," Nathan complained. "I hope it's someone super cool so we get awesome powers. Who's your parent, Piper? Do you have awesome powers?"

"My mother is Aphrodite," Piper explained. "The goddess of love. I don't really have any superpowers, but… I do have this ability called 'charmspeak'. I can use it to convince people to do stuff."

Grant's eyes widened in interest. "What kind of stuff?"

"All kinds of stuff." Piper felt a little awkward and self-conscious discussing the ability that used to get her in so much trouble. She wasn't exactly proud of some of the things she'd used it for.

"Sounds lame," Nathan said off-handedly.

Piper raised an eyebrow. Okay, so charmspeak wasn't a glamorous demigod ability. But it was still pretty useful. "You think so?" she said. Clearing her throat and lacing magic in her voice, she said firmly, "Jump up and down and quack like a duck." Nathan did immediately as she ordered, causing a few people in the vicinity to look around in alarm. Grant burst out laughing and Piper chuckled in amusement. Even Kendall cracked a grin.

"Monsters are usually just as susceptible to charmspeak as humans," she told the boys once Nathan had stopped making animal noises and given her an apologetic and sheepish smile. "Sometimes it comes in major handy. It's saved me and my friends' lives on a number of occasions."

"Okay, it's not so bad I guess," Nathan admitted. "But I still want something different. Earlier, we saw a guy move a whole bunch of water with his mind and make it kill a giant snake monster!"

Piper smiled to herself, picturing that scene. "That'll be Percy. His father is Poseidon, the Sea God." She felt her smile break a bit when she remembered how frustrated and hurt Percy had seemed at the council meeting. Trying not to dwell on it, she added, "I wouldn't get my hopes up, though—there haven't been any other Poseidon kids in a long time."

"What other kinds of powers do people here have?" Grant asked.

"Well, it varies a lot, actually. Some are just good fighters or weapon-makers. Others are more special—my boyfriend can fly, for instance. And my best friend can create fire at will."

"Fire?" Nathan repeated, eyes widening. "Cool!"

"There's also a guy who can call an army of skeletons," Piper went on, enjoying the excited looks on the young boys' faces. "And the other guy you were with tonight, Frank? He can change into animals."

"You guys sound like a gang of comic book superheroes," Kendall pointed out wryly.

Piper shrugged. "I guess we kind of are. So… do you guys have any family?"

Grant and Nathan's faces fell a bit. "Not anymore," Grant said solemnly. "We had our dad, but… he died a few weeks ago. We told them he was killed by a monster, but they didn't believe us so… we ran away."

"I'm sorry," Piper said sympathetically. It wasn't uncommon for the family members of demigods to fall victim to monster attacks. Half-bloods apparently gave off a pretty strong smell, and monsters were too good at tracking it. The war probably only made things worse, with creatures roaming the streets in higher numbers. "Where did you live before?"

"Newark, mostly. We traveled a lot, though. Our dad played pro football for the Giants, and he always took us with him on the road."

As Nathan interrupted his brother to speculate more about superpowers, Piper turned to Kendall. "What about you? Any family?"

"No, just me," he said a bit flatly. "My mom gave me up when I was little. Never knew anything about my dad." He shrugged, clearly not planning to go on, but when Piper raised her eyebrows expectantly he gave a short sigh and added, "I grew up in a foster home, okay? Not that exciting. I'm sure it's pretty common around here."

Piper didn't answer. It actually wasn't all that common, though she supposed she could understand why he might think it was. Gods were notoriously bad parents, after all. With a twinge in her chest she suddenly thought of Leo, who was one of the only other people she knew who'd spent a lot of his childhood in foster care. She hoped that wherever he was, he was okay.

"So…" she began as a change of subject, leaning forward and looking interestedly at Kendall's face, "can you see out of that eye, or…?"

"Not really," he replied. "Just dark shapes. It was really disorienting at first, but I've gotten used to it."

"What happened?"

"When I was thirteen, me and a friend were hanging out by this convenience store in Queens. This guy came around and tried to rob the place, pulled a knife and stabbed somebody. I don't know if she lived. My friend and I tried to stop 'im, but it didn't go so hot. He killed my friend, and gave me this." He pointed halfheartedly at the scar over his blinded right eye.

"That's awful," Piper said, grimacing.

Kendall lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug, but his brown eye had darkened. "It's been two years. I'm over it."

Piper sighed heavily, eyes going to the shadowy sky. "Things will look up once the war is over. You can find a home here, just like we did. There are people here just like you, who would understand what you've been through more than anyone else ever could. Trust me, it's… it's nice to have a family like this."

"Once the war's over?" Kendall repeated skeptically. "How can you win against gods?"

"Some of our campers are on a quest that might succeed in waking the rest of the gods, all our parents. With them on our side, we have a much better chance against Nyx and Erebos."

"What makes you think they'll help?"

Piper bit her lip. She knew exactly where he was coming from and understood his doubt. She used to feel the same way, like kids like them were nothing to the gods. But after spending so much time at camp, she felt she understood her mother and the other immortals just a little better, and they weren't as distant and heartless as she'd once thought. Eventually Kendall and all the other new kids would realize that too.

"Because they aren't evil," she answered. "The gods may not pay much attention to individual people—even their own kids. But they do care about the world as a whole. They wouldn't stand for this darkness and death that Erebos and Nyx are causing, I know it. They would help us because they know we can't save the world without them."

Kendall wrinkled his nose. "Sounds arrogant."

"I guess you're not wrong," Piper admitted ruefully.

As Piper returned the boys to the Big House so Chiron could find them a place to sleep now that the quick tour was through, she considered this observation further. It may have been accurate to call the gods' possessive outlook on the world arrogance, but in a way they at Camp Half-Blood could relate. She'd liked to think that their small pocket of believed safety existed because of hope, but couldn't it just as easily have been their own sense of arrogance? Was it haughty to believe that they could keep each other safe from the troubles of the world, or was believing it the only thing that made it possible?

Chiron's words from the meeting still rang in Piper's head as she left the Big House, finally resigned to speaking with her cabin mates. _'…A false sense of security we can no longer afford…It's time we all start facing the truth…'_ And that was it, wasn't it? Up until now, they'd just been playing at war—a battle here and there but still a cold war all the same. But with Erebos's threat, and with Drew's death, things were getting real. There was no avoiding it anymore, no playing safe or biding time. The King of Darkness was coming for them. And ready or not, they would have to answer.

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><p><strong>Time for things to start getting serious, as you can assume. The next chapter's more exciting than this one. I'll get it up early next week probably. How 'bout a review in the meantime?<strong>

**Later days, everybody!**

**-oMM**


	29. XXIX Piper

**Hi again, gang! Have a good long weekend? I was off work yesterday but most of my three-day weekend was spent making Homestuck costumes for an upcoming convention... Fun but tiring. The number of horns I've carved and wigs I've styled and T-shirts I've painted in three days is a little overwhelming, haha.**

**Anyway, how 'bout an update to start off the week? Or, for those of you who had work/school yesterday, to start off your regular old Tuesday? Thanks as always to last chapter's reviewers! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XXIX<br>PIPER**

Piper's meeting with Jason a few minutes later happened completely by chance.

She was walking away from the Big House, trying to decide how to tell her cabin mates that their missing sibling had been found, when in her distractedness she'd turned a corner around the infirmary tent and run headlong into a very solid person much taller and wider than herself. She stumbled over backward and felt a pair of strong hands grip her arms, pulling her upright instinctively with a surprised shout of "Whoa, careful!"

Piper blinked and looked up into the face of her sort-of boyfriend, whose eyes seemed to widen as they met hers. "S-Sorry," she stammered, trying to force her tone of voice to normal levels.

"Oh—Piper," Jason said awkwardly. He dropped his hands from her arms a little too fast and she felt herself deflate a bit. She hated to think that touching her made him so uncomfortable. "Um… Don't worry, it was my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going." He gave her a brief, forced smile and turned to go, clearly not interested in continuing any sort of conversation.

But he wasn't getting away that easily. "Jason, wait," Piper said firmly, prompting him to spin slowly back toward her. She looked around to make sure there was no one within immediate earshot before asking, "Can we talk?"

He grimaced, looking over his shoulder. "I don't really think now's the best time. You heard what Chiron said. We've got work to—"

"Can you just _listen_ to me?" she cut across him, frustrated at his avoidance. He blinked hazily, the unintended magic in her voice washing over him, and she drove a fist into her forehead. "No," she said, "no—I don't want to charmspeak you into talking. I want this to be real. Forget I said that."

Now he looked confused. "I—"

"You're not you," Piper blurted out before she lost her confidence. "I mean, you are, but you're not."

Jason frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She sighed shortly. Now was _really _not the time for words to fail her. "Look… Feeling bad about what happened to New Rome—that's normal and that's okay. But giving up on your friends, the ones still alive—that's not. It's good that you care, that you miss them. But the way you're handling it is… unhealthy. And I'm worried about you." He shook his head, but didn't respond. "I know how you feel, okay? After Drew—"

"This isn't the same," Jason interrupted curtly. "You didn't even like Drew."

"So? You don't have to like someone to care about what happens to them. She's my sister—or, was. Losing somebody you care about isn't a situational thing. That kind of pain is universal. But in case you haven't noticed, I'm not letting it totally take over me."

"Maybe that's because you don't get it. So many people trusted me to protect them, and I couldn't. Think of it like that—you're the leader of Cabin Ten, right? If you'd kept better watch on your cabin mates, taken responsibility, been stronger and surer, don't you think you could've stopped this from happening?"

Piper felt her eyes narrow, her gut twisting uncomfortably. "Are you saying it's _my_ fault Drew's dead?"

"No," Jason backtracked, "maybe—I don't know. I don't know what I'm saying. I just know that people with authority have a responsibility to protect the people who answer to them. And if we can't do that, then what good are we?"

"What _good_ are we?" she repeated incredulously. She was starting to regret initiating this little chat. "I can't believe you. I would've thought that losing somebody else would prove to you that this war is still happening—that we need to do everything in our power to stop it while we still can."

"Maybe we can't," he shot back. "Ever think of that? Maybe losing somebody else will prove to all of _you_ that we've failed! That Erebos and Nyx have won—that we can't beat them. That we're weak!"

Piper smacked him. She couldn't help it—his words had made her so angry. So she raised a hand and slapped him across the face. That silenced him immediately, and he stared at something she couldn't see, looking stunned.

"We are _not_ weak," she said, her voice low and shaking. "And you… You never used to be."

Feeling her eyes start to sting, she spun around and stalked away, blinking the beginnings of tears from her eyes when she was sure he couldn't see her. How could he think like that? Hadn't Chiron just told them minutes ago how important it was that they work together—that they could find strength and hope in each other? They could still resist Erebos and Nyx, as long as they did it as one? Could he really believe that they had no chance, or was he still just so lost in grief and self-pity that it was clouding his judgment? Piper really hoped it was the latter, though that still proposed a problem. It was clear now that she still wasn't able to help him—as Mitchell had warned her, Aphrodite's empathy sense wouldn't work if she was too distracted by personal frustration.

Though she was even less in the mood for it now than before, Piper knew she had to tell the rest of her cabin the news about Drew and Erebos's message. She'd put it off long enough. So she grabbed the first Aphrodite kid she could find—which happened to be Lacy—and enlisted her to help collect their cabin mates for an emergency meeting. It took longer than expected, but before long she was out of stalling time and the deed had to be done.

They didn't take the news well. Sure, Drew hadn't been anyone's best friend. But when she'd disappeared, the entire cabin had devoted their time to trying to find her. Just like Piper had tried to tell Jason, the pain of losing somebody you're connected to was universal. It didn't matter that Drew hadn't been the nicest of people or the most gracious of cabin heads. She was family. And losing her wasn't easy.

Even after her siblings began filing out of their cabin, Piper stayed. A few of them had shuffled over to their beds and were now lying in silence, whether awake or asleep she couldn't tell. No one left behind spoke, though, for which Piper was grateful. Between Drew's unexpected death, Erebos's frightening message, and her argument with Jason, she wasn't up for any more heart-to-hearts. All she wanted was to go to sleep and try to forget everything that was happening, even just for a little while.

But when she lied down, her eyes went immediately to her bedside table—to the drawer in which Katoptris lay hidden. She didn't want to take it out, but her hands seemed to have a mind of their own and were already reaching for the drawer. Before she knew it, she was lying on her side, staring at her reflection in the triangular blade—at the tired, sad eyes looking back at her. The last time she'd looked into the knife had been the last time she would ever hear Drew's voice. She'd gone for help as soon as she could, but was Jason right? Was there more she could have done? Could things have happened any other way?

And then she realized—it didn't matter. The point was that things _had_ happened that way, and there was no way to go back and change it. Thinking in retrospect was a pointless waste of time. With Erebos on the move, they had more important things to worry about.

But Piper intended to learn from this loss. She _would_ be keeping a better guard on her friends and family after today. She had to protect the people she cared about—_all _of them, no matter what.

With that thought providing just a small bit of comfort, eventually she drifted off to sleep, fingers still gripping the wooden hilt of her prophetic bronze dagger.

Maybe it was the fear. Maybe the stress. Or maybe it was the fact that Katoptris was still in her hand, so close to her sleeping mind. Whatever the reason, though, Piper had a dream that night unlike any she'd had in quite some time.

She was running along a dark, deserted beach, kicking up black sand beside inky water so still it hardly looked real. She didn't know why she was running, only that it was more important than anything that she keep moving forward and not let anything drag her back. Behind was something terrible, something unthinkable. Something she had to stay away from no matter what.

But something was off—something about that feeling wasn't quite _real_. It was like watching a movie and getting so involved you feel as though you're there, though inside you know it isn't really you who's feeling that way. It was empathy. Just like with Gwen and Octavian, Piper was sensing the emotions of someone else—another person's intense fear and anxiety. But who?

As if in answer to her question, the darkness around Piper shifted and she realized she wasn't running alone—Percy Jackson was beside her. She wanted to speak to him, but something told her to stop. He looked more terrified than she'd ever seen him before—green eyes wide and expression twisted in an anxious grimace. He shot a glance over his shoulder, but behind them was only shadow.

Suddenly he stumbled as though something had grabbed him, and Piper skidded to a halt in the sand. Looking back, she noticed with a jolt of fear that a length of smoky, black rope was tied around Percy's chest, the end of which stretched behind him and disappeared into the darkness. He yanked on the rope as though pulling it from a snag and spun around, setting off again at a run, and Piper was forced to follow him. But they hadn't gone far before the rope was suddenly pulled taught from seemingly nowhere, yanking Percy off his feet with a surprised yell. He struggled up from the ground and pulled frantically on the black rope with both hands. That look on his face seemed so wrong to Piper—he was one of the bravest people she knew. What could possibly have him this scared?

The answer came in the form of a dark, hollow laughter that rang out from every shadow around them. Feeling her blood turn cold, Piper turned slowly as the darkness behind her began to shift and swirl, and out of its depths stepped a man—an evil, terrifying man unlike any she had ever seen. Tall and thin, dressed in a pristine black tuxedo. Sleek, dark hair; pale, ghostly skin. No eyes—only dark voids of space filled with wispy black smoke. And a sharp, pointed crown of volcanic glass.

The King of Darkness—Erebos.

Percy froze, staring at the god as though paralyzed. Piper's eyes followed the rope entrapping him to the end—which disappeared right into Erebos's chest. Erebos's cruel smile widened as he reached up and wrapped his long, white fingers around the shadowy rope. He pulled hard, once again yanking Percy off his feet. He climbed back up and tried to run, but Erebos only laughed and pulled again. Percy's feet dragged backward through the sand and he screamed in frustration and anger, fighting against the force. Piper wanted more than anything to reach out to him, but she couldn't move. Erebos smiled that evil smile and stepped backward into the thick shadows, pulling on the black rope all the while, and Piper was helpless to watch as Percy struggled in vain, losing ground fast. He reached out a hand and screamed again—this time not in anger, but in fear—before the shadows swallowed him completely.

"NO!" Piper cried, at last finding her voice. She ran forward, but she was far too late. Percy, Erebos, that horrible shadow—all of it was gone. She spun around, looking for something—anything—that would explain to her what had just happened, when the darkness again began to move and the King of Darkness appeared once more, staring down at her with those shadowy, eyeless holes.

"What have you done with him?" she demanded harshly, storming up to the god and balling her hands into fists. "Let him go!"

Erebos only smiled, looking amused. "No weapon can break a bond of darkness," he said, his voice a low, quiet whisper. "You cannot save him. No one can." He stepped backward and began to laugh, the sounds of his triumph filling Piper's head and erasing her hope and will.

"No…" she said weakly. "Wait!" But again she was too late. Erebos had gone, and she was alone on the dark, silent beach.

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><p><strong>Wuh-oh. That can't be good.<strong>

**Review? Pretty please? Next chapter should be up on Friday. I've got a busy couple weeks coming up with prep for my con, but I'll try to keep my updates regular. Thanks, guys! Later days!**

**-oMM**


	30. XXX Piper

**Happy Friday, everybody! Kind of a short chapter here. Thanks to everybody who reviewed the last one! Love you guys! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XXX<br>PIPER**

Piper woke with a start, jolting upright in her bed. She was lying on top of the covers, still fully clothed and covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Katoptris was still clutched in her right hand, and Erebos's dark, echoing laugh was still ringing in her ears.

What had just happened? Had she just had a vision of the future? But no, that couldn't be right. Why would the King of Darkness be chasing Percy Jackson down a dark beach? And that shadowy rope… It had to be symbolic of something. No, this dream wasn't a vision. But it _was_ real. It meant something—something important. And despite all the questions floating around in Piper's head, one thing was certain: she had to find Percy and warn him. Now.

She glanced at the analog clock on her bedside table. 11:07 PM. He probably wouldn't be in bed yet, but she figured she might as well check his cabin first anyway. Climbing out of bed, she wiped the sweat from her face and took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. The overwhelming fear and anxiety she'd felt in the dream was still pricking at her mind, causing her hands to shake and her stomach to twist uncomfortably. Was that really what Percy was feeling right now, all the time? Between the prophecy and the Oracle's warning and Erebos's threat, he certainly had a lot on his plate at the moment. Had it been her in his position, feeling like that all the time, Piper wasn't sure she would be able to handle it. But to her, he seemed just as strong and dedicated as he always did. He'd even been willing to turn himself over to Erebos, not knowing what would happen, to protect the lives of everyone at camp. He'd seemed so brave, when inside he must have been terrified.

But maybe, Piper wondered, that was what bravery meant—to do what's right even when you're afraid. Not to be fearless, but to refuse to let fear stop you. The more she thought about it, the more she realized—she knew so many people like that, so many of her friends who were braver than she often gave them credit for.

The dark, chilly air outside her cabin helped to clear Piper's head and calm her nerves. The dream was still clear in her mind—she wasn't ready to let it fade yet—but the effect on her body was starting to wear off. She set off at a jog across the grass, heading to the right toward the head of the line of cabins and dodging around the people milling about in the open. When she reached the Poseidon cabin—a long, sea stone building with a low ceiling and wide windows—she peered through the closest window for any sign of life. No lights were on inside, which meant Percy was either asleep or not there. She stepped up to the door and raised a fist to knock, but stopped when she heard a voice. She fell still and listened. She couldn't make out what it was saying, but it sounded like the very person she was looking for.

With a frown, Piper pressed her ear against the door, but the voice wasn't coming from inside. She shot a glance over her shoulder, listening hard, and followed the sound around the side of the cabin. She breathed in sharply and ducked back behind the corner when her eyes landed on Percy and Annabeth, who were standing between Cabins One and Three and having some kind of argument that Piper wasn't keen on interrupting.

But that didn't mean she couldn't listen in.

"…thinking about it," Percy was saying in a low voice. "We're doing everything we can to bulk up defenses but for all we know it might not be enough. Erebos gave us a surefire way to keep everyone alive. How are you not even considering it?"

"Surefire?" Annabeth repeated, and Piper leaned around the corner to see a skeptical look on her face. "You actually think we can trust him? You think if you do what he says he'll have any reason not to run us all down anyway?"

"That's the whole point of a bargain, Annabeth," Percy shot back, looking frustrated. "If he wanted to do that, then why bother contacting us at all? He wants to be King. He's got to have something to rule besides sleeping gods and mortals who don't even know who he is. He doesn't want us all dead. He wants us to bow down to him."

Annabeth frowned. "How do you know that?"

"I…" Percy's eyebrows drew together in uncertainty. "I don't know. I just do. I guess I got that vibe when he contacted us or something. Look, it doesn't matter. The point is that we've got an obvious chance to save lives here, and you're telling me not to take it."

"I'm telling you to think about this a second!" Annabeth argued in a shrill whisper. "He gave you a day, didn't he? So let's use that time to figure this out!"

"What's there to figure out? This is literally a matter of life and death, Annabeth, I would've thought the choice was pretty clear—"

"Don't you see it? It's your fatal flaw talking!"

Percy fell silent, staring at Annabeth with his mouth slightly open like he didn't know what to say. Piper had heard of fatal flaws—a weakness each demigod had that made them dangerous and vulnerable. Once, during her first few months at Camp Half-Blood when Leo was first building the _Argo II_, she and Annabeth had talked about the concept. The daughter of Athena had mentioned that hers was pride. Piper had no idea what any of her other friends' flaws were, or even her own for that matter.

"I told you, remember?" Annabeth said when her boyfriend didn't respond, a pleading note to her voice. "In the Sea of Monsters? Fatal flaws are dangerous. If we don't learn to control them, they'll destroy us. My mother told you, didn't she? 'To save a friend, you would sacrifice—'"

"I know what my fatal flaw is, thanks," Percy interrupted shortly, staring at the wall beside Annabeth. Piper wondered what the rest of that sentence was going to be, but at the same time she felt she didn't need it. She knew Percy, and putting two and two together wasn't that difficult. 'To save a friend'—his fatal flaw must have been loyalty.

Suddenly she felt like an intruder. Was it okay for her to know something so personal? Sure, Percy was her friend. But finding out his fatal flaw like this seemed wrong. Part of her wished she could forget what she'd just heard, but she knew that wasn't about to happen.

"Look," Annabeth went on carefully, "I'm not trying to reprimand you or anything. I just want you to see past this protector complex you've got and think logically—"

"You want to talk fatal flaws?" Percy snapped suddenly, rounding on his girlfriend. "Tell me honestly. Do you really think we can keep the camp safe from Erebos, or is that just _your_ fatal flaw talking?"

Now it was Annabeth's turn to look surprised. Her gaze dropped and all her frustration seemed to disappear at once, leaving only a defeated sort of sadness behind. "I don't know," she said quietly, and Piper actually felt a painful twinge in her heart at the look on her friend's face. "I don't know anymore—I don't, and I hate it." She looked up at Percy with pleading eyes, and his expression softened instantly. "The only thing I do know is… that I love you. And losing you is the absolute last thing I would ever want to do. That's why I can't let you do this."

Percy sighed and hung his head, pressing both hands against it as though nursing a headache. "I know," he said, sounding tired. "I get it. I'm sorry. I just can't stop thinking—" He broke off and looked up. "What if it's you next time? Or Grover, or Piper, or Frank, and I just… I _can't_ let that happen. You guys mean everything to me."

"I know we do," Annabeth insisted seriously, as Piper felt an odd, guilty sort of swell at hearing her name included in that list. "That's why we're gonna stick together and see this through. I want you to promise me you won't go along with Erebos's request—not until we have no other option. And not without talking to me first." Percy glanced sideways and tilted his head, looking reluctant, so Annabeth repeated firmly, "Promise me."

"Alright, fine," Percy finally conceded. "I promise. But this had better work." He shot a look over his shoulder, away from the collection of cabins. "Look, I'm gonna go find something useful to do before I go nuts."

"You should try to get some rest," Annabeth chided with a frown. "You just fought two drakons."

He shook his head. "I can't. Not right now. Wouldn't be able to if I tried. Don't give me that look, I'm not gonna go running off to Mount Olympus. I've just got to keep myself busy, okay?"

"Alright. But I'll be checking up on you."

"Looking forward to it." Percy grinned, looking a bit more like his usual self so that Piper actually smiled. And so did Annabeth as he leaned down and kissed her before turning and jogging off out of the shadows and away from the cabins.

But as soon as he was gone, Annabeth's brittle smile faded, and she stared after him looking despondent. Again Piper felt like she shouldn't be there—she'd just witnessed a conversation she was pretty sure she shouldn't have overheard. What was she even doing here in the first place? Did she have something she was supposed to be doing?

Wracking her brain, Piper didn't see Annabeth turn and start walking toward her. At the last second she jumped and scrambled backward toward the door to Cabin Three, reaching it just as Annabeth rounded the corner and froze when their eyes met.

"Oh, Piper," she said, blinking in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I was, uh…" Piper replied awkwardly. "I was looking for Percy. I had something to tell him."

And then like a flood the dream came rushing back—the beach, Percy, Erebos, the black rope tying them together, and how it all had disappeared in a cloud of darkness. The look on her face must have given her away, because Annabeth suddenly looked startled and asked, "Is something wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I had a dream," Piper explained quickly. "About Percy. And Erebos. I have to tell him—do you know where he is?"

"Erebos," Annabeth repeated. She looked behind her, toward where her boyfriend had just gone. "He was just here, but… I don't think now's the best time." There was an anxious gleam in her gray eyes, and quietly Piper thought she understood. She'd just seen (though Annabeth didn't know it) how serious Percy was about giving himself over to Erebos. He didn't need another reason to believe that Erebos couldn't be beaten—and Piper had a feeling that was exactly what her dream would mean to him.

"Well, somebody has to know," she decided, and so instead she told Annabeth. She recounted everything she could remember—the look of the beach, the feeling of fear (stressing that the fear wasn't hers), the sound of Erebos's laughter and the power and danger that emanated from him. And his words: _'No weapon can break a bond of darkness. You cannot save him. No one can.'_

"A bond of darkness?" Annabeth repeated, looking troubled. "What does that mean?"

"What if…" Piper hesitated. An idea had started to form in her mind, but she really didn't want it to be true. And somehow, saying it aloud felt like it made it more likely. "What if when Nyx used Percy's blood to free Erebos, they got, like… bonded together somehow? What if that's what the rope meant? That they're connected to each other?"

Annabeth's eyes widened. "Rachel's warning," she muttered. "She said 'the blood-stained bond'… And that she saw darkness in him. You don't think… that's what she meant?"

Piper wanted to tell Annabeth that no, she didn't think that at all. The scared look on the older girl's face pierced her heart. But there was too much at stake here for comfortable lies. As Chiron had said, it was time they all face the truth. "…I think it makes sense," she admitted reluctantly.

"But Nyx sacrificed the blood of so many people that night to free Erebos," Annabeth said with a tiny note of desperation.

Piper pointed out, "But Percy's the only one that lived." Another thread of realization suddenly unraveled in her mind. "And maybe that's the problem. Maybe he wasn't supposed to survive, and now because he did, he's a problem for Erebos. Like a liability. Which means that… Erebos really does want to kill him—to finish what should have happened a month ago." Piper felt her blood chill and a shiver crept across her skin. She hoped more than anything that she was wrong. And judging by the look on Annabeth's face, so did she.

"Piper, do me a favor," Annabeth said haltingly. "Please don't tell Percy about this. Don't tell anyone else—not yet. I don't want him thinking there's no hope."

"Don't worry," Piper promised. "You think I want to start a camp-wide panic? That would be the opposite of helpful right now."

Annabeth smiled weakly and squeezed Piper's arm in thanks. "I just hope this works—increasing our defenses, I mean. If we lose anyone else, I don't think I'll be able to stop him from leaving."

Piper nodded numbly, trying not to think that if Percy really was connected to Erebos by an invisible darkness, then it might not be long before her dream came true and he was dragged—fighting or willing—into the shadows.

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><p><strong>Ooh, some speculation. Don't worry, we'll find out more about all this later. And guess what? Our quest team finally reaches Death Valley next chapter! A pretty eventful chapter set, if you ask me. But hey, starting next week you'll get to see for yourself ;)<strong>

**Review on your way out? Have a good weekend, guys! See you early next week.**

**Later days,**

**-oMM**


	31. XXXI Leo

**And it's Tuesday again. Hey, here's a chapter to celebrate. This is a pretty eventful 3-chapter chain right here. Lots of stuff goin' down. Hope you guys like it! I know I sure do, haha.**

**Thanks to last chapter's reviewers (err... review_er_; I think there was only one. Come on, guys, you're killing me here, haha). Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XXXI<br>LEO**

With an extreme amount of luck that should never have been possible for a team of demigods, Leo, Nico, and Reyna reached Death Valley with no further interruptions. Granted, Leo was sure to guide Festus just a bit out of the way, taking something of a zigzagged path rather than a straight one in hopes of avoiding any more unfortunate side-trips. Thankfully, it seemed to work, and they reached their destination about an hour past midnight that night.

"Not bad, huh?" Leo called back to the others as they began circling downward toward the desert. "Well, sixteen hours or so behind schedule, but who's counting?"

"Maybe if you hadn't been unconscious for so long," Nico shouted from the back.

"Oh, sure," Leo replied, rolling his eyes. "Let's not blame the jerk who knocked me out in the first place."

"You think the others are wondering where we are?" Reyna asked. "We probably should've been back by now—or at the very least, gotten here and found Hypnos."

"Well, they haven't sent a rescue party," Leo pointed out, "so they either trust us or they've already declared us dead. Either way, I'd say the best thing to do would be to shake a leg and get this done ASAP."

"So where do we start looking?" Nico said. "Death Valley's a pretty big place."

"We're over the spot where Nyx transported New Rome last month," Leo told them, leaning over Festus's neck and peering through the thinning clouds as they circled lower. "I figured we'd start there and go until we see something that looks like… Oh. Exactly like that."

Nico and Reyna followed Leo's lead, leaning sideways and squinting through the darkness. Below them was the same deep, sandy valley in which Nyx had raised Erebos during last month's lunar eclipse. And at the bottom of the incline, in the center of the valley, was a great, black shadow that stood right where the center of New Rome had been. As they got closer, they could see it more clearly—it was a huge, towering castle. The base and foundations were made of black stone so dark it could have been formed from shadows, but the towers and spires were slick and shiny—black obsidian swirled with blue and flecked with tiny lights like stars. Strips of volcanic glass cut the stone, giving the building a strangely kaleidoscopic look. It would have been beautiful, if what Leo knew was waiting inside it wasn't so completely terrifying.

"Well, I think it's safe to say we found Nyx," Leo concluded as Festus landed a safe distance away from the upper base of the incline. As they dismounted, he asked, "Think Hypnos is inside?"

"There's a good chance," Nico said. He pushed his right foot carefully against the sand and winced, but his injured leg seemed to hold his weight, which he apparently deemed sufficient. "She'd want to keep him close, if she's using him. He's got to be in there somewhere. We've just got to find him and this'll be over."

Leo cringed. "Right. So all we have to do is break into the Queen of Night's stronghold, fight off whatever guards she's set up, beat Nyx herself, and free the god of sleep from some unknown prison. And I was worried this would be hard."

"Not helping," Reyna said dryly. "What we need is a plan." She tightened her sword belt (her dagger having been swallowed by Benny the friendly hellhound) and stalked wordlessly away from Festus toward the valley. Leo raised an eyebrow at Nico before they followed her.

"Uh, Reyna?" Leo said slowly when they came up on either side of her, just reaching the edge of the hill. She stared down into the valley. "I don't think a frontal assault is the way to go here."

"Shh," Reyna hissed. She pointed down at the castle. "What's wrong with this picture?"

"Aside from the obvious?" Leo replied. It was a palace made of black stone and glass in the middle of the desert. "Did she… leave the garage door open?"

Reyna shot him a pointed look. "There are no guards," she said flatly. "Look. The place is unprotected."

Leo frowned, realizing that she was right. "Maybe she was counting on the natural charm of the place to drive visitors away."

"Or maybe she didn't want to drive them away at all," Nico suggested darkly.

"You mean she was expecting us," Reyna said, sounding unsurprised.

"Well," Leo said as he stood up straight, "in that case, why don't we head inside? We're way past 'fashionably late' and it'd be just plain rude to keep her waiting any longer."

Nico nodded, also rising to his feet. "If Hypnos is inside, I should be able to sense him. We've just got to get close. We may not even need to beat Nyx—just keep her occupied long enough for us to find Hypnos and set him free."

"Great plan," Reyna said in a tone that implied the opposite. "Let's do it."

She led the way down the steep incline and up to the hulking front doors of the castle, two twenty-foot slabs of obsidian that rose above their heads like immovable statues. Leo gripped the smooth, ivory handle on the right in both hands and pulled, dragging the heavy door outward with a resounding _creak_.

"You'd think she could afford to oil these," he noted, shaking his head as Reyna and Nico slipped through the door. Leo followed, and they'd barely entered the room beyond before the door gave another horrible _creak_ and snapped shut behind them in a way that would make the writer of any horror movie proud.

"Or maybe I prefer them that way," a cool voice rang out into the darkness, echoing off walls that were too far away to see. Leo felt his blood turn to ice—he knew that voice. It spoke inside his mind every time he closed his eyes. Inexplicably, his skin suddenly felt hot, as though that voice was calling the evil fire it had in so many of his dreams. He glanced down nervously, but there were no flames. It was all in his head.

Well—almost all of it. A dim, pale light sprang to life in the center of the room, illuminating the walls and ceiling of what Leo could now see was some sort of audience chamber. A great, black throne made of sleek obsidian stood near the back, and in front of it, watching them with a satisfied smile, was the Queen of Night, Nyx.

Nyx took a few slow steps forward, her long, ivory gown shifting around her like liquid moonlight and casting misshapen shadows on the walls and floor. She spread her hands. "Welcome, demigods, to my Midnight Palace. So rarely do I get visitors these days. It does get lonely here, so far from my dear brother. How nice of you to offer me company—if only for a short while." Her smile widened, showing pointed, white teeth.

"Did you know we were coming?" Reyna asked in a steady voice, a hand gripping the hilt of her sword.

"Did you think I set no protection around my home?" Nyx responded in kind. "A simple detection barrier. Anyone comes within five miles of here, and I know at once."

Leo found this slightly surprising—not that she had detected them, but that it had taken her so long. Controlling Hypnos must have been taking a good amount of her concentration if their tricks with Moros and Benny hadn't alerted her to their movement. It was a comforting realization, though—if she had found them sooner, they might never have made it this far.

"I was curious, though," Nyx went on, "to know who it was that made it so very far from home, past the obstacles my brother and I set throughout the country. I admit, I'm impressed." Her eyes rested on Nico and she smiled with a strange sort of cruel kindness. "Nico, dear. How nice to see you again." Nico scowled, and Nyx's gaze shifted to Reyna. "Ah. The Roman praetor who failed her city. Come for revenge?" Reyna tensed, but didn't rise to the jibe. Nyx chuckled, looking amused. "And…" Finally her eyes landed on Leo, who met her gaze and tried not to flinch. "You," she said, eyes narrowing just barely in interest. Her lips stretched in a smile, but her eyes searched Leo with a strange glint in them. Was that… apprehension?

"The child of fire," she said slowly, raising a hand and examining her fingers in the soft glow of her gown. "I think you'll find your visit here very… _enlightening_." Her eyes sparked brightly and suddenly dark flames burst to life around her hand, casting her face in a harsh, blue light. Leo staggered backward, feeling like he'd been hit by a bus. The fire was _real_. His worst nightmare—right in front of him. Nyx must have been behind the dreams after all, though for what purpose he still had no idea. Her smile widened and she laughed, extinguishing the fire with a satisfied look.

Reyna had turned in alarm as Leo had backed away from her and Nico, who was looking confused at the exchange. The troubled, worried look on her face said clearly that she'd made the connection as well. Her arm jerked oddly at her side like an uncontrollable spasm and she clenched her hand into a fist before turning to glare at Nyx.

"We didn't come here for introductions," she said coldly. "We came here to defeat you. So how about we get to it?" And without further warning, she pulled her gold sword from her belt and charged forward, straight toward the Queen of Night.

"What—?" Nico stammered at the same time Leo yelled, "Reyna!" but she wasn't listening. Nico drew his own sword and both he and Leo ran after her. Nyx swept her arm to the side and a thin blade of black glass appeared in her hand. She swung it as Reyna approached and Reyna ducked low, aiming a swing of her own sword at the goddess' legs. Nyx twirled to the side, her midnight-blue hair flying, and thrust out a hand, summoning a wall of darkness that pushed Reyna backward onto the ground.

By then Nico had come up behind her and aimed a stab of his iron sword, which grazed Nyx's right side. Her eyes gleamed angrily as she spun around, enough force behind her swing to take Nico's head off in one blow. Thankfully, that didn't happen, as he jerked backward and just barely missed the tip of her blade. Leo threw both arms out in front of him and they ignited like blowtorches, throwing a beach-ball-sized orb of orange fire at Nyx. It hit her in the back and she stumbled, then she reached out and shoved Nico savagely aside before turning quickly around. The look in her catlike eyes was murderous. She mirrored Leo's actions and used both hands to send a second ball of fire—this one black and blue—hurtling through the air. It slammed him in the chest and threw him backward, and he hit the marble floor rolling, which at least served to extinguish the fire.

Leo bit back a groan and rolled onto his stomach, pushing himself up on his elbows. He looked over to see Nico crouching on the ground and muttering under his breath while Reyna fought to dodge Nyx's sword. Suddenly, the floor below the goddess cracked and split as what looked like a tribe of Native American ghosts sprang from the earth and surrounded her, waving their spears and tomahawks and yelling in high-pitched wails. Nyx shrieked and began slicing through them, but while she was occupied Nico and Reyna were able to put some distance between themselves and the Queen of Night.

"You okay?" Reyna asked as she crouched beside Leo and gripped his arm, pulling him upright.

"Yeah," he replied with a grimace, looking down at his shirt, which now sported quite a few charred holes. "This is new, though," he noted, poking through one of the holes at a ruddy burn mark on his chest and flinching when a painful spark of heat dug into him. Probably should've expected that.

"I thought you were immune to fire," Nico said in alarm.

"Apparently not all fire."

"Look, we can't waste time here," Reyna said impatiently, shooting a glance over her shoulder toward where Nyx had already turned a fraction of the zombie-ghost-Indians to dust. "We need to find Hypnos—"

"He's close," Nico interrupted, frowning in concentration. "Below us, I think. All we need is…" His eyes swept the room and landed on a small, black door to their far right. "There."

"Good. You guys go free Hypnos. I'll keep Nyx busy."

Leo and Nico rounded on Reyna incredulously. "You're kidding, right?" Leo said. "There's no way we're leaving you alone to fight a goddess."

"Somebody has to," she shot back.

"Is this about New Rome? Because I told you, you can't—"

"No, it's not about that. This is the only way, and you know it. I know you'd do the same thing." She looked sideways at Leo and his memory suddenly flashed back to their trip last month, to the night they'd spent trapped in the hunter Orion's lodge. They'd talked about sacrifice, about risking your life for your friends. She'd said, at the time, that it was reckless. What were her words? _'In some cases, chances of success could be higher if I'm the one to survive. I wouldn't want to jeopardize more people's lives by giving up my own.'_ And he'd replied with some joke, as usual: _'Remind me never to get stuck in a life or death situation with you.'_ And now, here they were, a life or death situation—and she was the one making the sacrificial play.

"Well, whatever we decide, it's gotta be fast," Nico said urgently, watching the battle going on across the open hall.

The look on Reyna's face told them she wasn't backing down. But despite that, the simple fact was that Leo didn't want to leave her. It wasn't an outright suicide plan, but fighting the Queen of Night one-on-one couldn't have had impressive chances. If they were going to do this, he and Nico would have to move as quickly as possible.

"Alright, fine," he finally conceded. "We'll find Hypnos and come back for you. Just be smart, okay?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Who do think you're talking to?"

"We should go," Nico warned. He looked over toward the door to make sure the coast was clear.

Leo nodded and shot one last look at Reyna. She met his eyes and her arm jerked at her side again, hand rising a few inches before tightening into a fist. This time, though, Leo felt a strange jolt as he understood what it was—it wasn't an uncontrollable muscle spasm at all. She was reaching out for him and holding herself back.

It was this, more than anything, that did it. The wall he'd put up around his feelings for Reyna shattered like glass and suddenly it was all he could think about. He'd said they'd wait until after the quest—until Hypnos was free and the gods were awake and an end to the war was in sight. But now, up close, it was clear that that day might never come for one or both of them. Reyna was about to take on the Queen of Night alone, which meant that it was very possible that this would be the last time they spoke. So, knowing full well that they had to hurry but not willing to miss this tiny chance, Leo grabbed Reyna around the waist, pulled her against him, and kissed her.

The effect was immediate and overwhelming. It was just like the last time—a feeling so warm and sudden and complete that everything else just disappeared. Nothing had ever felt so real and so right, and some part of him wondered why he'd even bothered to deny it for so many weeks. He felt her hands twist unconsciously in the torn fabric of his shirt and a swell of pain ignited under her fingers, bringing back everything he didn't want to remember. Reluctantly, Leo pulled away, holding onto Reyna and suddenly feeling surprisingly out of breath. She was perfectly still, matching his rapid breathing and staring at something near his neck with unfocused eyes.

"Uh… guys?" Nico said uncertainly from behind Leo. "I wasn't kidding. We should, uh… really go."

Unable to make his mouth form words, Leo stepped backward, letting go of Reyna and watching as her arms dropped limply to her sides. She looked so perfectly stunned that it might have been funny under normal circumstances.

"Don't die," Leo forced out, his voice strangely gravelly.

Finally, she blinked and looked up, eyes locking onto his. For a wild second, he was prepared to see anger or resentment there. But all he saw was that same bemused sincerity as she responded, "You either."

Evidently tired of waiting, Nico grabbed Leo's arm and yanked him toward the side door. He stumbled after Nico, watching as Reyna shook herself off and picked up her sword before turning to face Nyx with a steely expression. Nico grabbed the door handle and yanked it open, shoving Leo inside before ducking after him and pulling the door closed tight, throwing them into darkness.

"So, uh…" Nico muttered awkwardly as their eyes adjusted to the lack of light, "you want to… explain—?"

"Not really."

"Right. …Let's go."

The son of Hades started down the slowly spiraling staircase that lay ahead of them and Leo followed wordlessly, thinking of Reyna and hoping that maybe—just maybe—he'd given her a reason to try and stay alive.

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><p><strong>Yes! Fun times and more fun times. And hey, more to come! So how 'bout a review? Come on, guys, I know you're out there.<strong>

**Anyway, I'm going away this weekend for that con I mentioned a few chapters ago, so I don't know if I'll update again this week or not. Hey, how about this: if I get a lot of reviews asking me to, I'll update Thursday before I go away. If not, you'll have to wait until at least next Tuesday because I'll be gone until then. Let's see if any of you (other than those couple faithful reviewers - I do love you guys very much!) are serious about this story, kay? Just a little experiment since this week is a special case.**

**Thanks, all! Later days!**

**-oMM**


	32. XXXII Leo

**See what a few extra reviews will get you guys? And it was easy, right? You're gonna review all the time now, right? Right? Haha, worth a try :D**

**Anyway, all kidding aside, thanks bunches to all of you who read my note and reviewed last chapter! As promised, I'm updating before I go away. Ready to find Hypnos? Enjoy, everybody!**

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><p><strong>XXXII<br>LEO**

The spiral staircase was so dark Leo had to summon a blaze of fire in his hand to provide himself and Nico with enough light to avoid falling headfirst down the steps. They couldn't have been descending for more than a minute or so, but for some reason it felt like an hour. At first they could hear shouting and clanging above them—the sounds of Reyna's battle against Nyx. But soon those echoes were swallowed up by the dark stone walls, leaving Leo and Nico with only the sounds of the fire in Leo's hand and their own footsteps to break the otherwise eerie silence.

Eventually the stairwell opened up into a long, narrow hallway. "Now what?" Leo asked, reaching out and touching a nearby wall. It seemed unremarkable.

"I guess we start looking," Nico suggested. "How far do you think this hallway goes?"

Experimentally, Leo thrust out his arm and sent a small ball of fire down the hall. It illuminated the walls as it went, showing a number of identical shiny, black doors, before colliding with a stone wall some sixty feet away, where the hallway turned a corner to the left. "About that far," Leo reported with a groan. That was a lot of doors to go through. "Better get started. Let's see what's behind door number one." He stepped up to the first door on the right and turned the knob, pulling it open. Inside was a wide, low-ceilinged room that his fire only lit the front half of—but it was enough to see the giant nest of sleeping lizard monsters. Startled, Leo scrambled backward and shut the door tightly, leaning his back against it. "Wrong door."

Nico shot him a pointed look. "We can't check every door, that'd take forever. Besides, we don't even know what might be in these rooms. Just follow my lead." He turned away from Leo, not waiting for confirmation, and started slowly down the hallway. He glanced to the right or left every few seconds, and Leo assumed he was using that weird life/death sense thing he had to try and find the god by his immortal aura, or something. Whatever. Leo didn't need to understand it. As long as it worked and they made it back to Reyna before it was too late.

They were almost to the end of the hall before Nico stopped abruptly—so abruptly that Leo ran into him and set the sleeve of his jacket on fire. A moment of brief panic and a lot of wild movement later, Nico placed a hand flat against the stone space between two doors and said, "Here."

Leo frowned, eyeing the doors that lay about ten feet on either side of them. "You know that's a wall, right?"

Nico glared at him. "There's a room," he said curtly. "There's just no door."

"Oh, of course. Good thing I can walk through walls, then."

Rolling his eyes impatiently, Nico grabbed Leo's arm. "Who said anything about walking? Put out that fire." The second Leo did as he was asked, darkness flooded around them and Leo was yanked by the arm into a black wind tunnel that seemed to suck the air from his lungs. Thankfully it lasted barely three seconds before the shadows thinned and they came to a sudden and complete halt. Nico let go of Leo and he stumbled backward against a wall, coughing as he caught his breath and flinching at the strain to the burns on his chest.

"Nico di Angelo," a slow, steady voice said suddenly. "And Leo Valdez. Isn't this a surprise?"

Leo looked up to realize that Nico had been right—there really was a room on the other side of that wall. It was small, maybe twenty square feet, and plain. Empty torches hung from the black stone walls. The room was lit instead by a flickering blue glow coming from the back of the room—where the god of sleep, Hypnos, was locked in an iron cage burning with dancing, black fire.

Leo froze. He may not have been afraid of his own fire anymore, but Nyx's still brought an immediate sense of fear and pain that he couldn't control. Ahead of him, Nico stepped forward and said, "Lord Hypnos. We came to ask your help."

Hypnos regarded Nico with interest. He was dressed in the same gold silk pajamas he'd been wearing when they had first met him over a month ago at the Cloud Nine Hotel, but he looked a good deal worse for wear. His black hair, streaked with gray, was untidy and tangled. His golden eyes looked tired, and the lines on his face seemed to have deepened. "You wish me to free the other gods," he guessed almost sadly. "Believe me, my boy, I wish nothing less myself. But as you can see, at the present I am powerless."

"Why?" Nico asked with a frown. His eyes reflected the dark fire. "What is this stuff?"

"Nightflame," Hypnos explained. "An ancient, dark magic invented by the primordial shadow gods—Nyx and Erebos. It feeds on immortal energy, casting our power into the void. It burns eternal unless snuffed by its creator or cleansed by the purest fire—fire only the god Hephaestus can summon. It is… an inescapable prison."

"The prophecy," Leo said suddenly, walking forward. "'Sleep entombed in fiery jail'. It wasn't… It meant you." This had to be what that line was referring to—not 'sleep' the action, but 'Sleep' the immortal being, trapped in a prison of Nightflame. Despite the dire situation, Leo couldn't help feeling partially relieved. It wasn't about him after all.

"Yes," Hypnos agreed with a weak sigh. "It seems I have the honor of a line in our newest Great Prophecy."

Leo felt a lump rise in his throat. "So this _is_ a Great Prophecy."

Hypnos nodded, his eyes strangely sad. "There must always be a Great Prophecy."

Before Leo could think too hard about what that meant, Nico turned to him and said, "He said Hephaestus's fire can stop this stuff. Does that mean you can, too?"

Hypnos's eyes sharpened. "You're a pyrokinetic?"

Mouth extremely dry, Leo raised a hand and willed it to catch fire in answer, blending a warm, orange light against the eerie blue shadows on the stone walls. He glanced at Nico, who shrugged as if to say _Give it a try._ Hypnos only watched with a serious expression. Leo thought back on his last dream, how his fire had consumed Nyx's and beaten it. The same thing had to happen now, didn't it? Wasn't that the whole point of his father's showing him that it was possible? For this moment, so they could set Hypnos free?

Leo took another step forward and stretched out his arm, throwing a stream of fire at the cage bars. The orange flames collided with the black—and nothing happened. Leo's fire crackled and burned out, and Nyx's fire blazed on.

Nico cursed in ancient Greek. "Guess it's gotta be the god. It was worth a shot. We need another plan, though—some way to trick Nyx into getting rid of this fire."

"But why would he…?" Leo muttered absently, not listening. He raised a hand and narrowed his eyes at it, thinking back to the dream. He couldn't be certain—you never could with gods—but Leo had a feeling his father had meant for him to do more than just beat the dream. It couldn't be a coincidence that he'd found himself up against the Nightflame in real life, or that getting rid of it was so important. Somehow, Hephaestus had to have known that his and the other gods' freedom would hinge on this moment—on Leo overcoming Nyx's fire. What had he done differently in the dream? Well, there was one glaring alteration—in the dream, he'd been the one on fire. He'd overwhelmed Nyx's flames from the inside.

That gave Leo an idea—and idea he really hated. But they were at war, the gods were trapped in an enchanted sleep, the one who could wake them was locked up tight, and Nico was busy babbling about what it would take for Nyx to extinguish the Nightflame herself. At this point, anything was worth a try.

"Wait a sec," Leo said aloud, interrupting whatever Nico was planning. He strode purposefully toward Hypnos's cage and Nico turned to him in alarm.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

Leo didn't answer. He stopped in front of the prison and stared into the swirling black and blue flames, trying not to focus on how much they burned and instead on how he'd beaten them last time. The fire he had inside was stronger than them; his father had told him as much. He could do this. He had to.

Before he could lose his nerve, Leo shoved both hands out and grabbed the bars of Hypnos's cage. Instantly the hot metal scorched his skin and he yelled through gritted teeth, squeezing his eyes shut. He threw all his concentration into memories of the dream and his desire to make Nyx pay for everything she'd done, turning it into the fire he was so used to. On cue, his arms and hands blazed with orange flame, and this time it didn't flicker out. It swelled in seconds and consumed every inch of the cage, brightening the Nightflame and throwing a warm, red light across the entire room.

The burning sensation vanished, but pain still spiked up Leo's arms. His hands felt glued to the iron bars. He willed the now-familiar fire to die down and it slowly flickered and faded, leaving the bars of the cage glowing red-hot but no longer ignited. He pried his stiff fingers from the bars and staggered backward with a low groan, feeling slightly sick at the sight of the rough and boiled skin on his hands. That had better heal. What good was a mechanic/electrician/engineer who couldn't use his hands?

"How did you do that?" Nico asked, staring at the fire-free prison in awe. He reached out and touched one of the bars, yanking his hand back immediately with a pained grimace.

"With mad skill, how else?" Leo responded. He gripped the hot iron—no longer bothered by the temperature—and pulled the cage open easily, stepping back to give the god some space. Realizing that they were now standing around in the dark, he also proceeded to light a few of the empty torches on the walls.

"Impressive," Hypnos offered with an appreciative nod as he straightened his shoulders and stepped out of the cage. "You have my thanks. Now we must leave quickly. My mother can still control me if she comes too close. We must return to Olympus and free the gods before it's too late."

"We can't," Leo argued at once. "We've got a friend upstairs. We aren't leaving without her."

Nico nodded in agreement. "You go," he told Hypnos. "Besides, somebody's still got to deal with Nyx. I'm sure we'll… figure something out." He didn't sound too convinced, a fact which Hypnos seemed not to miss.

"There may be a way," the god said thoughtfully, frowning. His tired, golden eyes seemed to darken when he looked from Nico to Leo and said, "Blood magic."

"Blood magic?" Leo repeated with a grimace. He didn't like the sound of that.

"Yes. Blood magic is a powerful, arcane technique—a barrier spell of sorts. It has been used to imprison immortals for ages—since the time of the Titans, who first developed it. It was how Erebos was locked deep in the Underworld, and why Nyx required Kronos' blood to break him free."

"So you're saying you could trap Nyx here?" Nico said, eyes widening earnestly.

"I can't," Hypnos said, shaking his head. Leo felt his heart sink in disappointment—until Hypnos looked straight at him and said, "But you can."

"Me?" Leo said in surprise.

"Blood magic is enacted through fire—not dark fire, like Nightflame, otherwise I'm certain my mother would have used it on me. Pure, light fire. The Titan Prometheus provided Kronos with the immortal fire necessary to imprison Erebos. Your father's fire is just the same."

"But… I can't do magic," Leo argued lamely. The idea was a bit too wild even for him.

Hypnos only quirked an eyebrow. "You can create fire at will, and you wonder about magic?"

Leo hesitated, conceding the point. "Touché. Alright, so… what do I have to do?"

"For its power," Hypnos explained, "the spell is rather simple. All it requires is that you burn Nyx's blood into the walls of this castle. Then you would only need to find a way to defeat her—she would not be able to escape on her own."

It sounded too good to be true. Was it really possible? Could they actually trap Nyx in her own palace and escape safely, with Hypnos free and the gods possibly minutes away from waking? Could they seriously _win?_

"It may be simple, but it will not be easy," Hypnos warned as though reading Leo's mind. "Nyx knows of this magic and will not fall for it readily. You will need to be fast and wait for the right opening."

"An opening we may never get," Nico added. Always the optimist.

Suddenly Hypnos looked sharply toward the ceiling, expression turning stony. "She is coming," he said darkly.

"Wait—what?" Leo stammered.

"I must go before she catches me. Good luck, demigods. I sincerely hope we meet again." And with that, Hypnos vanished in a burst of white light, leaving Leo and Nico alone and a little stunned.

But they weren't alone for long. Barely a few seconds later, there was flash of blue light and Nyx materialized in the center of the room, her back to them as she faced the now empty cage. Before either of them could react, she let out a furious scream of rage and spun around so fast her hair and gown whipped like they were caught in a tornado.

"_You_," she growled, glaring fiercely at Leo and completely ignoring Nico. She threw herself forward and Leo scrambled back in alarm, trying not to envision getting his eyes clawed out by her three-inch fingernails. He dove clumsily to the side and fired a thin column of flame in her direction, igniting the end of her midnight-blue hair. She shrieked angrily and reached for it, probably about to extinguish it with some kind of god-magic, but at that moment Leo felt a hand grab his wrist and everything around him vanished into cold blackness. The next thing he knew, he was standing at the foot of the spiral stairwell.

"Come on!" Nico yelled as he set off at a run up the stairs. Leo didn't need telling twice. He leapt after Nico, both taking the stairs three at a time, with only one horrifying thought in his head—_what happened to Reyna?_

They had to have seconds before the Queen of Night caught up with them. Hypnos's advice about blood magic had been all well and good, but Nico was right—finding the right opening to use it wouldn't be as easy as they thought. They had to find a way to put some distance between themselves and Nyx, enough to come up with a plan.

When they burst into the audience chamber, the place was dark and quiet. Leo summoned fire to give them light, and the first thing he saw made his heart stop cold—Reyna was lying on the floor ahead of them, and she wasn't moving.

"Reyna!" Leo yelled, running forward and sliding to his knees beside her. Her clothes were sticky with blood that stemmed from a stab wound in her left shoulder and a thin slice below her ribs, and more dripped from a cut on the side of her neck. Her right cheek was badly burned, dotted with tiny boils. Her arms and legs bore numerous scratches, and her braid was messy and singed at the edges. She was breathing—thank the gods—but barely.

"This isn't good," Nico said unnecessarily, looking anxiously over his shoulder toward the door they'd just broken through.

Suddenly Reyna groaned and her eyes fluttered open. Leo leaned over her as she said in a weak voice, "Hypnos…"

"We found him," Leo told her. "He's free—he's gone."

Reyna breathed out shortly, possibly in relief. "Nyx…?"

"—Is coming!" Nico answered, staring at the door to the stairs. He looked back at Leo and Reyna with wide, serious eyes. "We've got to do something. Should we fight or run?"

"If we run now, she'll just go after Hypnos again," Leo pointed out, thinking fast. "No, we've gotta beat her here and now. Otherwise all of this will be for nothing."

"But…" Nico said, eyes sliding down toward Reyna. Leo understood what he didn't say—she needed help right away. Defeating Nyx now was important, but so was saving Reyna's life. And when Leo looked back at Nico's dark eyes, he suddenly remembered another important factor—his promise to Hazel. She'd asked him to keep her brother safe. There had to be a way to accomplish all that in one fell swoop.

Making a quick and probably stupid decision, Leo said firmly, "Alright, you take Reyna. Get her somewhere safe and get help."

"What?" Nico said sharply. "No, you're right. We have to stop Nyx now—"

"I know. I'll do it."

"If you think I'm leaving you here—"

"If Reyna stays much longer, she'll die. As you can probably imagine, I would really like to prevent that from happening."

Nico glared at Leo, who stared back just as adamantly. He'd been through the options. This was the only one that had even the slightest chance of accomplishing everything Leo wanted to accomplish. Sure, he was scared out of his mind. But Hypnos believed he could do it, so he had to try and do the same.

"There's no arguing with this, is there?" Nico grumbled.

Leo shook his head. "Nope. The Supreme Commander has decided. So go on, Walking Dead. Get going!"

The look on his face must have shown that he clearly wasn't changing his mind anytime soon. Nico growled in frustration and defeat, looking like he was fighting the urge to tear his hair out. "I'm coming back for you as soon as I can," he promised angrily. "Don't do anything stupid."

Leo grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it," he replied cheekily.

Nico lingered just long enough to glare at Leo, shooting him an unspoken _'If you die, I'll kill you'_ threat (which Leo didn't take idly; Nico was the son of the Lord of the Dead—it was entirely possible). Then he swore harshly under his breath and turned away. He knelt down, hooked his hands under Reyna's arms, and started pulling her toward the nearest corner of the chamber where the shadows were thickest.

Reyna's heavy-lidded eyes fixed on Leo, but he couldn't read the emotion in them behind the pain and exhaustion. He might have hazarded a guess, though, when the words she forced out were "Don't… die."

He gave her a weak smile. "You either."

And with that, the darkness folded over Nico and Reyna and they vanished, leaving Leo alone with the evil goddess of night.

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><p><strong>DUN DUN DUNNN! As you can probably imagine, the next chapter is pretty crazy. I'll get it up some time next week. Hey, who knows? More reviews might prompt me to update more quickly ;)<strong>

**Thanks, gang! Have a good weekend! Later days!**

**-oMM**


	33. XXXIII Leo

**Let me tell you guys how great it was to come back to all those reviews last night. Really made my day! So thanks to all of you! I tried to respond to all the ones I could, but to all the unsigned reviewers, thanks so much since I can't tell you directly! Love you guys!**

**So of course after seeing all the love when I got home, I'm updating today. Hey, keep it up and I'll try to up my speed. I just got done writing chapter 45 (finally; this one's taken me foreverrrr haha) so I'm making decent progress. Long as I can keep up, we'll be solid.**

**Thanks again, everybody! Enjoy this chapter! (And try to bear with me. I promise I have a plan. ...You'll understand.)**

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><p><strong>XXXIII<br>LEO**

Before Leo turned around, he realized he had company. And sure enough—there was Nyx, standing in front of the stairwell door with her pale hands clenched into fists and her piercing, white-gold eyes glowing with malice.

Now that he had a second to look at her, he realized that Reyna hadn't taken all the damage from their fight. Her gown was torn in places and dotted with specks of golden _ichor_ that dropped from various cuts on her arms, shoulders, and stomach. She didn't look anywhere near as pristine and perfect as she had before. And what's more, now her hair was tangled and charred—a good few inches shorter than it was minutes ago.

"Whoa," Leo said in a good impression of a calm voice. "Talk about a bad hair day."

Nyx shrieked incoherently and thrust out both arms, sending a powerful blaze of Nightflame from her fingertips. Leo yelped and copied her, summoning a column of fire that collided with hers midair and both were wiped from existence. She reached her right arm to the side and that same thin, black sword appeared from the shadows. At the same time she made a pushing gesture with her left arm and a thick wall of dark energy slammed into Leo and threw him to the ground. He looked up and rolled sideways as Nyx swung her blade wildly at his head, jumping up to dodge her immediate follow-up swing. She spun with lightning speed and precision and her sword grazed the front of his shirt as he leapt backward. He stuck a hand in his tool belt and pulled out the first thing he could find, using it to block the next sword-strike. It turned out to be a wooden mallet, and her obsidian blade passed right through it with little resistance. If he hadn't ducked at the same time, he'd be about a head shorter.

"Aw, come on," he complained, dropped the useless halves of the mallet and glaring down at his tool belt. Now really wasn't the time for it to get smart with him.

He backed up quickly, deflecting another orb of Nightflame, and reached both hands into the belt, this time producing a twelve-inch lug wrench and a steel screwdriver. "That's more like it," he said appreciatively. He used the wrench to block Nyx's sword at the last second and threw the screwdriver, not really sure what he was hoping to accomplish with it. Miraculously, it hit the goddess squarely on the forehead and she stumbled backward, cursing in a very unladylike way.

Taking the chance, Leo turned and bolted away from her, heading toward the back of the audience chamber. He needed to get her blood somehow and, as Hypnos had said, burn it into the castle wall. That would bind her to the place, buying him time to get out of there and—ideally—collapse the building with her inside. That should definitely count as a defeat.

Leo reached the back of the chamber and veered off through a doorway against the back right wall, behind the throne. It led into a long hallway with more unlit torches adorning the walls. Hardly thinking about where he was going, he sprinted down the hall and turned left at the end, leaping up a short flight of six stairs that curved to the right. At the top landing, the hall swung around and he followed it into a wide walkway with huge, vaulted windows along the right wall. Below them, he could see a dark courtyard, probably in the middle of the castle's wings. At the end of the line of windows, the hallway split in two directions—straight or right. He took the right path into another hallway lined with more windows. He'd only gone about halfway down it, however, when something solid slammed into his back and knocked him off his feet, his momentum sending him rolling across the floor.

Leo blinked the stars from his vision and looked around to see Nyx at the other end of the hallway, coming toward him fast. He scrambled to his feet and darted through a doorway to his right—into a dead-end. The room looked like a fancy bedroom, with a huge, four-poster bed hung with black curtains in the corner and a wardrobe the size of half the Hephaestus cabin across from it. A round table with two chairs was against the left wall, next to a tall window covered in heavy drapes. He might've had time to take note of the rest of the room's strange clutter, but at that moment Nyx appeared in the doorway, barring the only exit.

_Looks like it's now or never_, Leo thought with a nervous jolt as Nyx glowered at him, looking pleased. He reached slowly into his tool belt and rummaged around, praying for something sharp. The first thing he produced was a cow hammer—nope. Next came a handful of size three washers—negative. A box of breath mints—was this thing kidding? Finally, it seemed to take pity on him and produced something useful—a four-inch wood-carving knife. Bingo.

"Nowhere else to run, Leo," Nyx said with a cold smile, and he cringed involuntarily at the sound of his name.

"Who's running?" Leo shot back with a smirk. She glared and opened her mouth to reply, but before she could he darted straight toward her. Luckily he seemed to have caught her off-guard, because otherwise that probably would have been a very unimpressive suicide. As it was, he had a brief second before she was able to react, and by the grace of some god somewhere he dug the knife across her side, just below the ribs, tearing her gown and causing her to cry out in surprise and twist reflexively to the side. He leapt backward as she wildly swung an arm at him and spun out of her reach, driving the small gold-stained blade into the wall beside the doorframe. He raised a hand, about to light the knife on fire, when suddenly a ball of Nightflame hit his right arm below the shoulder, catching his jacket sleeve on fire. He stumbled backward with a startled yell and barely dodged a swing of Nyx's sword as she appeared between him and the bedroom door.

Leo quickly used his own fire to extinguish the Nightflame before tearing the charred sleeve from his jacket. He glanced up and saw that he was now in the center of the room, with Nyx blocking his way to the door and also, subsequently, the bloody knife he'd lodged in the wall. But distance didn't matter. He just needed to burn it, and for that all he needed was a clear shot.

"Enjoying the feeling of being burned?" Nyx taunted him in a slightly shrill voice. "You may be able to stop my Nightflame, but you cannot beat it. It will consume you. My vision was wrong—you are _nothing_."

"Vision?" Leo repeated, trying to keep Nyx distracted. "What vision?"

"The vision of _you_—of your pathetic fire overpowering the Night! But it was mistaken. See how easily a few nightmares frightened you! Your fire is weak."

Leo momentarily lost focus, intrigued by her outburst. "Wait—you gave me those dreams to try and scare me off? Because I'm supposed to beat you?"

The goddess scoffed, glancing at the ceiling. "It was much easier than I envisioned."

A sudden irritation flared inside Leo. He finally was staring straight at the reason for all the pain and anxiety he'd felt over the past few weeks, and no matter what it took, she was going to pay for it. "Yeah, well, didn't anyone ever tell you not to fight fire with fire?" he said smartly, a smirk stretching across his face. "You just get burned."

Nyx's nostrils flared. "We will see who's _burned_ when you're dead!" she shrieked, before darting forward with her sword outstretched. Leo leapt to the side and reached out, firing a thin blast of orange and yellow flame past Nyx, his eyes fixed on the wood-carving knife still stained with her immortal blood. The same instant, he felt an intense, stabbing pain in his side and he cried out through clenched teeth, hunching forward as his muscles seemed to seize up as though charged with electricity. He looked down and saw the narrow, obsidian blade of Nyx's sword impaling the right side of his stomach—he hadn't dodged her quickly enough.

For a brief second, Nyx began to laugh. But then she stopped abruptly and her eyes widened in anger. She twisted her sword and pulled it back, eliciting another sharp yell from Leo, and spun around as though searching for something. Leo staggered backward unsteadily, wrapping an arm around his stomach as blood started to soak from the stab wound and trying hard to keep his legs from giving out. This wasn't over yet.

But he'd done it—the carving knife lodged in the wall was burning bright red and gold. Nyx growled in fury and started toward it, arm outstretched, but in a second the fire had blazed and disappeared. An odd, warm breeze swam through the air, like someone had opened a window, and vanished as quickly as it had come. Strange as it was, Leo knew it could only mean one thing: the spell had worked. Nyx was trapped.

"_Blood magic_," she snarled, her voice dangerously low. She turned back toward Leo looking positively livid. "You dare imprison me here? This is _my_ palace! If I must stay here forever, then _so will you!_" She leaned her head back and dropped her sword, raising both hands above her head. Worried but smart enough not to miss a chance like this, Leo ran forward, darting around Nyx and heading out into the hall. Suddenly the entire castle rumbled and shook like an earthquake had struck. Leo stumbled and fell sideways against the wall across from the bedroom door, warning lights flicking on in his head. What was she doing?

A second later it stopped. Nothing appeared to have happened—at least, he thought not. Not until he started down the hall and noticed that something was different.

Hadn't there been windows there a few minutes ago?

Leo's throat suddenly felt extremely dry. _No way…_

He ran down the hall, letting adrenaline take over and distract from the pain in his side, and retraced his steps from earlier. As he moved, he dug a hand in his tool belt and felt around, hoping he'd remembered to stock up his supply of god food back at the bunker before leaving. He could _really_ use some right about now.

"Come on, come on…" he muttered distractedly. His hands were slick with blood, which made it harder—not to mention the fact that his belt was fastened to his waist just below where Nyx had stabbed him and was now uncomfortably damp. "Ha-ha!" he said as he found what he was looking for. He yanked the chunk of ambrosia from inside and bit off a mouthful—as much as he thought he could eat without exploding or something equally unpleasant and lethal. A renewed sense of energy spread through his tired body and he picked up speed.

Finally, Leo ducked through a doorway and found himself back in the audience chamber. He lit a fire to provide some light and tossed it at one of the empty torches on the walls—seriously, why bother having them if she wasn't going to light the place? He dashed across the chamber, but before he reached the front end he saw it—or rather, _didn't_ see it. The entrance doors had vanished.

"Aw, no…" he said in dread, running up and placing both hands against the stone wall that was now erected right where the doors they'd entered through had been. The windows, the doors… everything was gone. Nyx had said that if she was going to be stuck here, then so was he. Now he saw what she'd meant. The crazy old witch had gone and erased every one of the castle's exits.

Leo's mind was racing. He could whip up an explosive and blast his way out, but that would throw a wrench in his plans to demolish the palace. He knew for a fact he didn't have enough materials for more than one device—not if one of them had to be large enough to take the building down. He would have to find a way to get more, and that would take time. Nyx had broken a blood magic seal before. Who was to say she couldn't find a way to do it again? Especially if she contacted Erebos for help. No, he needed to defeat her _now_, while he had the upper hand and before she had time to call her brother. Otherwise all this will have been completely useless.

Briefly, Leo wondered what had happened to Nico and Reyna. Nico had said he'd be back as soon as he could, but so far Leo hadn't heard anything from them. Had they made it somewhere safe—a nearby city or something? He was worried about Reyna, mostly. She'd been hurt pretty badly. Would a mortal hospital be able to help her? Ideally, if she could get back to Camp Half-Blood, it would be her best chance. But Leo had no idea if Nico could manage shadow-traveling over two thousand miles with another person. And even if he did, there was no way he'd be coming back, which meant that Leo was pretty much on his own.

He needed a plan. And fast. Nyx would be on him any second. The trouble was, he was slowly starting to realize that he'd have to choose between escaping and defeating her—he couldn't do both. And what was more, the effects of the ambrosia were already starting to fade. He could feel himself getting weaker by the second as if all his energy was seeping out of the stab wound below his ribs, and the chances of his crossing paths with a paramedic or a surgeon anytime soon were slim to none. Yet another uninviting fact Leo had to face: he was dying.

But that sure as heck didn't mean he wasn't going out with a bang.

Trying to steel his nerves into resolve, Leo pulled off his jacket and tore a strip from the bottom. He gritted his teeth and tied it tightly around his stomach in an effort to slow the blood loss. He needed his mind as sharp as it could be for the next few minutes. Just then, Nyx entered the audience chamber from the back at a slow, leisurely walk. She clearly wasn't in much of a hurry anymore—as far as she was concerned, they had all the time in the world.

"Looks like we're stuck here," Leo said lightly, jerking his head toward the conspicuously door-less wall behind him. "Know any good games to pass the time?"

Nyx raised her dark eyebrows as she strode across the chamber. "How about 'kill the bratty demigod'?"

"Bratty? Now that's just rude. I aim for 'annoying' and not a step above."

But the goddess didn't seem to be in the mood for witty banter. She flipped her sword in her hand and thrust out her left arm, calling a wall of darkness that attempted to slam sideways into Leo. He jumped and leapt away from the door and out of harm's way—or rather, directly _into_ harm's way, as the movement placed him within slicing distance of Nyx. She twirled around and swung her blade, and Leo jerked backward away from it. He shot a basketball-sized fireball at her, which she evaded as she aimed another attack. He knew he needed a way to distract her so he could get to work. The longer this dragged on, the harder it would be.

An unexpected opportunity presented itself very soon after, when Leo dodged a vicious swing of Nyx's obsidian sword and she instead managed to grab his arm with her free hand. She smirked and called a blaze of Nightflame, but he'd guessed half a second earlier what she was thinking. Immediately, he lit his arm—shoulder to wrist—on fire before hers could burn him, consuming the Nightflame in a wash of heat. Her white-gold eyes widened as the orange fire spread up her own arm in an instant and she stumbled backward with a shriek of alarm.

Seizing his chance, Leo turned and bolted for the basement door he and Nico had escaped through earlier. He pulled it shut behind him reflexively, even though he knew it wouldn't deter Nyx at all when she decided to follow him. Bounding down the spiral stairwell, Leo started reaching into his tool belt and yanking out materials—a casket of water softener, strips of sandpaper, an open package of mechanical insecticide, and three fireproof phials of nitroglycerine. Barely even focusing on what his hands were doing, he quickly dropped a pinch of water softener and half a handful of insecticide into one of the phials, swirling it just enough to mix the three ingredients. He pulled a six-inch cut of PVC piping from his belt and slid a quarter and a wad of fabric in one end as a stopper before dumping the contents of the phial inside. He then wrapped the entire thing in sandpaper, keeping it upright. He repeated the process twice more until he'd thrown together three crude sticks of high-explosion dynamite.

Next came the wiring and detonation cap. He tied the three sticks together as he reached the dark hallway at the bottom of the stairwell. Hands moving so quickly his eyes could barely follow, he rigged together an external heat-powered detonator and wired it through the top of each stick. He cut the joint wire and peeled back the last inch of plastic coating, attaching a three-inch flammable wick to the end of it.

Leo skidded to a halt near the end of the hall and chose a door at random, pulling it open and peering inside. Thankfully, no strange creatures were there to greet him—only a small, dark room with a stack of square tables against the back wall. He set his device on the floor just inside and to the left of the door, pulling a stopwatch from his tool belt as he did so and setting it for ninety seconds—exactly how much time he'd have once the fuse was lit. He didn't want Nyx to know what he was doing, meaning that she couldn't see the bomb before it had a chance to go off. If she did, then who knew—she probably could stop it somehow or protect herself at least. But if he hid it down here and led her away, she wouldn't be any the wiser. And that was key to this whole thing working out.

He heard her voice yell something from a marginal distance away and shot an anxious look over his shoulder. He was out of time. Hands shaking and heart pounding, he snapped his fingers, summoning a tiny tongue of fire and holding it against the fuse. It sparked and lit immediately and he pressed a button on the stopwatch, starting the clock. Then he stood up and left the room, snapping the door shut behind him. The trap was set. All he had to do was make sure Nyx didn't find it.

The instant he saw the hem of Nyx's gown descend the stairs Leo set off at a run like he'd never stopped. At the end of the hall, the path veered to the left to show another stairwell leading up and he followed it without a second thought. It bent to the right halfway up and Leo stumbled at the landing, the adrenaline in his veins weakening and no longer able to replace the energy he'd lost. He wouldn't be able to run much farther.

_Just to the top of these stairs_, he told himself firmly as he gripped the handrail and kept going. He could hear Nyx behind him now. He chanced a glance at the stopwatch—fifty-three seconds.

At the top of the stairs was a back hallway. Leo threw himself through the first door he came to—which turned out to be the entrance to a sort of dining hall. A long table rested in the center of the tall chamber, set with eighteen chairs. Deciding this was as good a place as any, Leo ambled across the hall and pulled back the chair at the head of the table, dropping heavily into it. He hung an arm loosely across his stomach, barely registering how wet the fabric he'd tied around himself had gotten. His entire body ached like he'd just been subjected to electric shock therapy. The ambrosia had helped heal a lot of the burns, but the pain in his side had spread. His arms and legs were starting to feel numb and weightless, his head unusually heavy. He couldn't ever remember being this tired in his life. Sluggishly, his eyes fell to the face of the watch in his hand. Twenty-six seconds. Twenty-five. Twenty-four.

At last, Nyx stepped through the doorway. The anger in her face seemed to fade, replaced by a sort of calm triumph. She thought she'd won. Boy, was she in for a surprise.

"Tired of running, Leo?" she said tauntingly as Leo glanced again at the clock. Seventeen seconds. "Ready to give up this pointless game of cat and mouse? I must admit it's growing tedious."

Her smirk faltered when, for no apparent reason, he laughed. "Aw," he said in mock disappointment, resting his head against the chair's high back. "You mean you're not having fun?"

Nyx raised an eyebrow. Six seconds. Just enough time for one final joke.

So Leo looked directly at the Queen of Night, grinned, and finished, "I'm having a blast."

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><p><strong>Thanks-for-reading-don't-kill-me-see-you-later-bye!<strong>

**-oMM**


	34. XXXIV Nico

**Happy Friday, gang! Thanks bunches for the reviews! I know that last chapter was a bit of a rollercoaster, and I fully expected a few outbursts, haha. But like I said, just trust me! I've got a plan. For anyone with doubts, remember this: There are going to be 54 chapters in this story. I do not once break my narrator pattern. Do the math. I promise it will make you feel better.**

**So this chapter's really short, shortest of the whole story actually. Hope you guys like it all the same. Thanks again for the reviews! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XXXIV<br>NICO**

Nico had the barest glimpse of the trunk of a tree and hoped for a second that they'd reached Camp Half-Blood before all of his energy drained out of him and he blacked out.

When he came to, he was lying on the ground and something was shaking him roughly. His head was buzzing louder than a hornet's nest, muffling the sound of some voice frantically shouting in his ear. He groaned and tried to sit up, but an intense wave of nausea hit him like a tsunami and he rolled over sideways and vomited onto the grass.

Rather than back away in surprise, the person hovering over him placed their hand on his shoulder. "Nectar," he heard her (it was decidedly a 'her') say as the fogginess in his head started to fade. "Somebody bring me some nectar! _Now!_"

Nico coughed and pushed himself away from the ground, sitting back and taking a few deep breaths. His arms and legs felt like rubber and all he wanted to do was lie back down and take a nap. But some tiny voice in the back of his mind insisted that this wasn't the time for such things, so he blinked hard in an effort to fight off the pull of unconsciousness. When his vision came into focus, the first thing he saw was a net of curly, blonde hair tied into a messy braid before its owner turned around and fixed him with an intense gaze.

"Nico, are you alright?" Annabeth asked urgently, gray eyes fierce and worried.

"What happened?" he croaked, voice hoarse. He looked around and realized he was at Camp Half-Blood, sitting on the ground near the edge of the forest. Behind Annabeth, he could see Roman and Greek demigods dressed in varying degrees of battle armor scurrying about and shouting at one another.

Annabeth frowned. "I was hoping you could tell me," she answered. "Did you shadow-travel all the way from California? Do you realize how reckless that was?"

"I'm fine," Nico argued, though to be honest he was feeling quite the opposite. "I've never gone that far with another person before. I just need a minute to…" His voice trailed off as the memories swimming in his brain started to solidify. "Reyna," he remembered suddenly. "Where's Reyna? She was hurt—"

"Reyna's okay," Annabeth assured him. "We already took her to the infirmary." She twisted around as a girl from the Apollo cabin rushed up and handed her a canteen of nectar. She said a hurried thank you and uncapped it, practically shoving it into Nico's hands. He still felt nauseous, but he forced himself to drink, glad he did when the warm, sugary taste of fried fritole slid down his throat and brought back some of his energy.

"What's going on?" Nico asked, craning his neck to see over Annabeth's shoulder. A few people were standing around them, whispering to each other and watching curiously, but it seemed most of the camp was occupied with some sort of military arrangement.

"We had a message from Erebos earlier this evening."

"What?"

"I'll explain later, okay? You need rest." She grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet, starting off immediately toward the infirmary tent across the camp.

"No," Nico argued, drawing his arm from her grasp and shaking his head, trying to focus. "There's something I…"

Annabeth huffed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. Why don't you at least tell me what happened, then? Like why you guys suddenly just appeared back? And—where's Leo?"

Nico's heart skipped a beat. "Leo…" he repeated. He rounded on Annabeth and demanded, "How long's it been since I got here?"

She blinked, looking a bit startled at his sudden urgency. "I don't know, fifteen minutes?" Nico cursed under his breath and spun around, heading back toward the forest. Annabeth hurried after him, saying, "Why, what's wrong? Nico, what are you doing? Where's Leo?"

"Castle," Nico said distractedly. "Fighting Nyx."

"Fighting—_what?_ Hey, stop!" She grabbed his shoulder and pulled him around to face her. He shot her a glare, but she stared back just as fiercely. "What. Happened," she said in slow, firm voice.

Nico breathed out shortly. He didn't want to waste any time, but it didn't look like Annabeth was backing down. It wasn't exactly her style. "We made it to Death Valley," he explained quickly. "We found Hypnos, but Nyx found us. Reyna was hurt so I brought her here and Leo stayed behind. But now that she's safe, we've still got him to worry about."

"He stayed behind? Why?"

"He was… worried about Reyna," Nico answered sort of uncertainly. "I think he knew I wouldn't be able to take them both." Leo and Reyna's weird and unexpected secret relationship (if that was what it was) had caught him pretty completely off-guard, and as far as he knew no one else was any wiser. To his surprise, though, Annabeth muttered a small "Oh," of understanding and bit her lip, looking anxiously at the ground. Did she actually _know?_

Nico shook his head. That wasn't important. He lifted the canteen of nectar still gripped in his hand and swallowed another mouthful, glad when it worked instantly. He could barely even feel the wound in his leg anymore. Satisfied, he shoved it back into Annabeth's hands and said, "Thanks. Wait here. I'll be back."

She frowned in alarm, predictably and annoyingly rushing after him as he stepped through the line of trees and into the dark forest. "What—You're not going back to Death Valley?" she said in disbelief. "That last trip almost killed you!"

She tried to dodge around in front of him but he evaded her. "It'll be easier by myself," he said impatiently, which was entirely true. Dragging along things that didn't belong in darkness like he did drained him five times as quickly as shadow-traveling alone. He was confident that he could make it.

Apparently, though, Annabeth wasn't. "No!" she shouted adamantly, shooting forward and grabbing tightly onto his arm. "I can't let you do that."

Nico stumbled to a halt and turned to give her one of his darkest glares. She actually seemed to shrink a bit in response. "Let go of me," he said, voice low.

But she didn't relent. "No."

Nico growled in frustration. "Annabeth, I'm going whether you try to stop me or not. If you keep holding on and I'm forced to take you with me, I'll die. _Let go_."

That must have done it. Her eyebrows drew together in a conflicted mixture of worry and defiance, and with a short sigh she released her grip on his arm. "Fine," she conceded. "But Nico, please—Nico!" She was too late. The second he was free, Nico stepped back into the darker shadow of a tree and let the darkness close over him. Camp Half-Blood disappeared, taking the desperate look on Annabeth's face with it. He felt a bit bad about that exchange, but she'd get over it. He had to get back to Death Valley and help Leo before it was too late.

But when the shadows around Nico thinned and faded, Nyx's Midnight Palace was in ruins.

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><p><strong>Wuh-oh. Well, we all knew that was coming. Next chapter's a bit more exciting, I promise. I'll get it up some time next week. In the meantime, how about a review? Pretty please? :)<strong>

**Side-note, I finally got a chance to read the first chapter of Blood of Olympus that got released last month. Any of you guys get it? I thought it was pretty funny, actually, haha. Makes me excited for the rest of the book. Only... four months? Ugh, that's so far away... (Also the Lost Hero graphic novel comes out the same day, though. Too much sweetness on one day! Haha)**

**Later days, gang!**

**-oMM**


	35. XXXV Nico

**Hi, guys! I was gonna wait 'til tomorrow to post this, but that last chapter was pretty short and lame so what the hey. This one's a bit more entertaining, at least.**

**So on with the show! Thanks to the couple of you who reviewed. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XXXV<br>NICO**

Nico's heart stopped dead. He staggered to the top of the sandy incline and dropped to his knees, legs giving out from a horrible mixture of exhaustion and shock. Dark blotches crept across the edges of his vision, but that didn't deter him from taking in the unexpected sight before him.

Nyx's castle had collapsed. Every wall, rampart, tower, and parapet had crumbled, leaving behind a gigantic mound of cracked stone and shattered glass. It had been _minutes_ since he'd left Death Valley. How had this possibly happened in such a short amount of time?

And more importantly, what had happened _before_ the collapse? Did Leo use the blood magic spell on Nyx? Was she somewhere inside that pile of rubble? And where was he?

"Leo!" Nico called, listening hard through his pounding headache for any sign of a reply. When none came, he shut his eyes and concentrated hard on his mortality sense, surveying the valley below and the surrounding area with his mind. He detected the hint of a godly aura, but it was extremely weak. That was good news—Nyx was still here, but she'd been defeated. Gods couldn't die; their auras would never completely disappear. But their bodies could be destroyed, and their energies beaten down so weak that it would take ages for them to regain the strength they once had. Even with Erebos's help, Nyx would no longer be a factor in the Shadow War.

As comforting as that discovery was, Nico was more preoccupied with what he didn't discover. He hoped his sense was playing tricks on him in his exhaustion, because he was picking up a distinct lack of any other living souls nearby. He opened his eyes and peered anxiously through the darkness, as though his sight was more reliable than his mind. Nothing moved at the bottom of the valley, but when he raised his head and looked around he caught a glimpse of movement far off to his right and scrambled quickly to his feet. He was halfway to the source when he realized what it was—Festus the dragon was standing on its bulky legs, stomping slowly up to the edge of the incline.

For a second, Nico felt a wash of relief. Surely Leo was with the dragon, about to fly home and meet them at camp. But as Nico neared, he could see that that wasn't the case. The dragon was decidedly alone.

"Hey!" Nico called to it, not sure if it would hear or understand him. It turned its head and stopped, opening its jaws and releasing a series of whirring noises—possibly in recognition, but Nico really had no idea. "What happened here?" he asked the dragon urgently. It answered with another string of machine noises, and Nico sighed in anxious frustration. He wished Leo was here to translate—though, of course, Leo's absence was the whole problem, so if he was there then he wouldn't _need_—oh, whatever.

"Festus," Nico said to the dragon, unwilling to give up on the only eyewitness, "where's Leo?"

Festus turned its head and looked down into the valley, loosing a long, low, mechanical whine that was impossible to misinterpret. Then the dragon dropped to its belly, curled its neck, and laid its head on the sand, placing a bronze claw over its nose and eyes and clicking mournfully.

"No…" Nico murmured, taking two staggering steps backward and feeling like he'd just been punched in the gut with a battering ram. Leo couldn't possibly be dead. That wasn't how this quest was supposed to end. They were supposed to free Hypnos so he could wake the gods, and maybe—if they were lucky—defeat Nyx in the process. They were supposed to make it back home—to help the rest of the Resistance at Camp Half-Blood bring an end to the war. They all knew the danger when they'd set out; but after everything they'd been through, every other dangerous task and impossible fight, they'd always come out with their lives. There was no way it could be different this time, was there?

As the truth sank in, a powerful anger settled over Nico. He should _never_ have left Leo alone with Nyx. The building collapse had to be his doing. Leo was too skilled with fire and mechanics for his own good. Maybe if Nico had been there, though, he could have gotten the idiot out before the explosion had gone off. This whole thing could have ended differently. But then—what about Reyna? If he hadn't gotten her the aid of magical medics immediately, would _she_ have been the one to die instead? Were they destined to lose somebody, no matter what outcome the night had taken?

Nico let out a frustrated scream and threw a punch at the closest thing he could find—which happened to be the dragon's hide, just above its front left leg. The impact jarred his whole arm painfully, but oddly enough he didn't really care. He kicked the dragon with his good leg, trying to vent just a little bit of anger, but it didn't work. Hands shaking, he leaned his forearms against the automaton and hung his head between them, feeling painful spikes of anguish start to cut through the frustration. He heard Festus whine again and felt something cold brush against his back. Raising his head, he saw that the dragon had spread its left wing and stretched it around Nico in a sort of comforting gesture. He turned and stared at the automaton's eyes, sort of speechless.

Suddenly there was a rush of wind and a voice cried out, "What—This can't be!"

Festus lifted its head in interest, but Nico made a frantic _shush_ing gesture and the dragon remained still.

"Impossible!" another, similar voice answered. "This must be a trick!"

Eyes widening, Nico ducked lower beside Festus. The voices were coming from a few yards away on the dragon's other side, and he recognized them easily.

"This is no trick," the third Fury said to her sisters. "The Queen has fallen." The other two wailed in despair, their horrible voices echoing through the quiet desert. Nico stayed perfectly still and listened, mind racing as he tried to decide the best course of action. He could wait until they left, or he could try and intercept them. Would it be better to fight them, or to try and gain information? Did he even have a chance against all three, weak as he was?

The problem was solved for him, however, when the third Fury hissed, "Enough, both of you! We're wasting time! Did you not notice that we have company?"

As the other Furies paused and seemed to realize that their sister was right, Nico clucked his tongue and mentally uttered a few unpleasant words. So much for the element of surprise.

"Who's there?" one of the Furies called out. "There's no sense in hiding! Come out and we'll kill you quickly!"

"Quiet, Tisiphone! That will hardly help!"

"Why not? Personally, I like a quick death better than a slow one—"

"We can't kill them quickly. We must torture them for news of the Queen's defeat."

"Oh. Alright. In that case—come out and after we torture you we'll kill you quickly!"

"Yeesh," Nico said loudly, stepping around Festus and into view. "You guys sure drive a hard bargain." He leaned sideways against the dragon and folded his arms, eyes landing on the three Furies standing nearby in the sand. They all whirled around and flinched visibly. Tisiphone even cowered a bit behind Megaera.

"You," Alecto spat in her snarling, raspy voice.

Nico tried not to look too satisfied by their obvious trepidation. "Me."

"So it was _you_. You are responsible for this!" Alecto flung an arm outward, pointing a clawed hand at the ruins of Nyx's castle.

"Actually, no," Nico argued calmly, ignoring the lump rising in his throat as he glanced at the wreckage. "I can't take credit for that one. I'll gladly take credit for getting rid of you three, though."

They all hissed angrily in response. Megaera said, "I'd like to see you try, _boy_."

Nico raised his eyebrows. "'Boy' now, am I?" He shrugged. "Fine. I mean, if you'd _like_ to see it…"

He'd barely stepped away from the dragon when Megaera pulled her flaming whip from somewhere in her orange-and-yellow-striped dress and Alecto shouted at her, "NO!" Nico threw up a hand and reached toward the Fury with his mind, penetrating her consciousness easily. Confidence and believed dominance were key to this trick, after all, and Nico had never been afraid of the Furies. He forced on her the idea that she couldn't reach him—that the thing she needed to kill was in fact much closer. Megaera shrieked in alarm and made an odd jerking movement as, instead of striking toward Nico, she snapped her whip to the side and it wrapped tightly around Tisiphone's throat.

Tisiphone gagged and dropped to her knees as Alecto screamed, "_Nico!_" She lunged for him, both claws outstretched, and he quickly thrust his other arm toward her, dividing his concentration with some difficulty and staring her down. She stumbled and faltered, hissing madly as her bronze claws shot up toward her own neck.

Hey, Nico had wanted to vent some frustration. Who could have asked for a better outlet?

"Stop it!" Alecto growled as she fought against Nico's hold, her arms shaking inches from her throat.

"Nyx is finished," Nico announced firmly, doing his absolute best to appear strong despite how exhausted he felt. "Hypnos is waking the gods as we speak. Erebos's days are numbered. This war, for all intents and purposes, is over. Which means you three have a choice to make. You can stick with Erebos until the end, but if you do, keep this in mind—soon creatures of the Underworld will be back under the control of my father, and you can probably imagine the kind of reward he'll hand out for your mutiny. Or—you can surrender now. Swear to me that you'll return to my father's service immediately, and I'll make sure your punishment is less than what you deserve."

Megaera gave a high, hysterical sort of laugh. "And you expect us to _trust_ you?"

Nico glared pointedly at her. "Yes, I do. You see, unlike all of you, I'm not a traitor."

Alecto and Megaera glowered while Tisiphone thrashed around, pulling at Megaera's whip. But Nico could tell he'd already won. The threat of Hades' wrath was always especially effective against certain Underworld denizens, and he had no doubt that it would prove sufficient to draw the Furies to an understanding.

"_Alright!_" Alecto snarled at last. Nico raised his eyebrows expectantly and she added scathingly, "We swear! We swear to renounce the King of Darkness and return to the service of the Lord of the Dead! _Happy now?_"

Nico shot a glance at the other two Furies, both of whom echoed "We swear!" and with a smirk he answered Alecto's rhetorical question, "Very happy, thank you." He lowered both arms and released his mental hold on Alecto and Megaera, both of whom gasped and dropped their arms limply to their sides. Another wash of tired nausea hit Nico and he leaned back casually against Festus in an effort not to appear as completely drained and powerless as he felt. "Since your schedules are suddenly wide open," he said to the Furies as they regained their composure, "I've got a job for you. If you'll accept it."

His tone of voice made it clear that they had no choice in the matter, which they of course realized. With a resentful scowl, Alecto said, "We are at your command."

"Good. As I'm sure you've realized, order in the Underworld has fallen lax in my father and stepmother's absence. I need you three to go down and do what you can to restore it. Use whatever means of discipline you feel are necessary." The hardness in their expressions seemed to soften somewhat at this bit of freedom, like they were reluctantly looking forward to the task. "Succeed, and I'm sure my father will be pleased. Might lessen your sentence a good deal."

For a moment, Alecto looked as though she wanted to respond with something particularly nasty. But all she did was bow and say stiffly, "As you wish, my lord." Then she, Megaera, and Tisiphone vanished.

As soon as they were gone, Nico slid heavily to the ground, his legs too sore and tired to hold his weight. On top of that, the sudden quiet reinforced on him the painful accusation that he'd failed to save a friend. Leo's conspicuous absence pressed down on Nico like an invisible weight, making his head and heart feel leaden and cold.

A mechanical _whir_ caught Nico's attention and he glanced to his left to see Festus's head swing toward him, piercing red eyes looking at him questioningly. He knew he had to get back home as soon as possible, but he had no hope of successfully operating the dragon. His only option was to wait until his strength was replenished enough to shadow-travel back to New York, then find someone who _could_ fly Festus back home and figure out a way to get them here. Because he sure as heck wasn't trying extended shadow-travel with a passenger again anytime soon.

"Sorry, buddy," he said despondently to the dragon. "I think we're stuck here for a while."

As if on cue, a deafening _WOOF_ broke through the silence and Nico jumped a mile high. He spun around as the darkness seemed to unfold to reveal a huge, black hellhound—a very familiar huge, black hellhound.

"Benny?" Nico said in disbelief. Benny gave another thunderous bark and Nico winced. The dog bounded over and bathed Nico with his tongue, drenching him and the dragon's right side in monster slobber. "Yeah, good to see you too," Nico said wryly, brushing the stuff from his face. He struggled to his feet but stumbled when his head ached particularly insistently and his vision turned momentarily black. Benny whimpered sympathetically and lowered his massive head, probably sensing either Nico's exhaustion or his anguished frustration.

"Hey, Benny," he said a bit weakly, "think you can give me a lift back to camp?" With difficulty, he sent Benny a mental image of Camp Half-Blood back on Long Island, and the hellhound barked his understanding. He plopped down onto the sand, causing the ground to rumble and subsequently knocking Nico off his feet again. Eventually he managed to climb onto the dog's back and grip his fur as tightly as his loose muscles would allow.

"I'll be back for you," he promised Festus. "Stay out of trouble." The dragon opened its jaws and gave another series of mournful clicks, whether regretful about being left alone or sad for its former master Nico couldn't be sure. Either way, he felt his throat constrict painfully and he averted his eyes, not wanting to look at the dragon anymore and everything it represented. Possibly sensing that it was time to go, Benny barked again and jumped, leaping into inky blackness.

They appeared almost instantly outside the borders of Camp Half-Blood. "Let me off here," Nico told the dog. "Wouldn't want anybody attacking you." Benny obliged at once, lowering himself down so Nico could slide from his back. He turned and patted the hellhound on the nose in thanks, feeling another uncomfortable twinge as he bid Benny goodbye. Leo had been right—it _was_ convenient to have a giant hellhound on call.

Once Benny had disappeared, Nico trudged toward the camp, dreading the questions he knew were waiting for him. The weight of all that dread seemed to pull on his arms and legs, slowing him down, and by the time he crossed the border into camp his eyes were feeling heavy.

"Nico!" someone shouted from nearby. "Oh, thank the gods! Annabeth said you'd gone back to Death Valley!"

A pair of hands gripped Nico's shoulders and he blinked deliriously, eyes coming to focus on the fearful face of his half-sister, Hazel.

"You need help," she realized, golden eyes widening as they looked him over. "Oh, gods… What happened? Nico, what did you do?"

Nico opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. Instead he stumbled forward and collapsed, feeling like heavy hands were pulling him down into the ground. Hazel cried out in surprise and her grip on his arms tightened, but she couldn't support his full weight. She dropped down beside him and shouted something he couldn't hear over the roar of the darkness closing in, bringing a restless sleep more welcome than Nico had ever had before.

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><p><strong>A blanket warning: the tone of this is about to get pretty dark. The next few chapters are <em>very<em> heavy. Just bear with me. You guys like a little drama, right?**

**So if you want another chapter this week, then drop me some reviews! The more I get, the faster the next chapter will be up ;) We're almost at 200! Woo-hoo!**

**Thanks, guys! Later days!**

**-oMM**


	36. XXXVI Nico

**Aww, guys, thanks for the extra reviews! To show you that they really do matter to me, I'm updating today as a thank you :D So let's keep it up, right? Hehe ;) I'm gonna have to work harder on finishing this if I'm gonna be able to keep up with this speed...**

**So thanks bunches to those of you who reviewed! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XXXVI<br>NICO**

Nico didn't want to wake up. As consciousness slowly returned to him, he chose to lie where he was with his eyes shut tight, trying desperately not to think about what he was going to have to face when he woke.

The rest of the Resistance needed to know what had happened in Death Valley. He knew that, but still he didn't want to be the one to have to tell them. It was one of most wide-scaled good-news/bad-news situations anyone could possibly imagine, with good news so incredible and bad news so terrible. It was odd, the mix of excitement and grief Nico was feeling inside. It left him confused, more than anything, not sure what kind of demeanor he should take on. Regardless, he knew that Nyx's defeat offered them an important chance—a chance everyone had to be aware of right away. He would need to face his friends' questions and give them answers—even if some of those answers weren't ones anybody wanted to hear.

With a short, defeated sigh, Nico finally opened his eyes and stared up at the dark canvas far above him—the curved ceiling of the medical tent at Camp Half-Blood. He brought both hands to his head, massaging the dull headache that persistently wouldn't go away, and wondered absently how much time had passed since he'd returned to camp.

"Oh, you're awake!" a voice said suddenly as someone approached the side of his bed. Nico dropped his arms and dragged himself into a sitting position as the girl—a camper he recognized from the Apollo cabin, though her name he didn't know—watched with critical eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," he answered truthfully. "How long—?"

"Only about four hours. It's just before six A.M. Really, though, I think you should lie back down and rest some more. You were really weak when Hazel brought—"

"No, I can't," Nico interrupted. "Bigger things to worry about."

The girl huffed in mild frustration, though she didn't look incredibly surprised. "In that case," she said, "I was told to take you to the Big House when you woke up, as long as you were up for it. The council's been in there all night, and they're gonna want to hear from you. If you're ready, I can help—"

"I can manage on my own," he argued, dodging her hands as she reached for his arm to help him stand. She raised both hands in a gesture of surrender and backed up, allowing Nico space to climb down from the bed. He noticed he was still wearing the dirty, blood-stained clothes he'd had on all day, but it didn't bother him. Beneath them, he could tell his wounds had been healed and a good deal of his strength had already returned. He wasn't about to volunteer to take on the King of Darkness, but a quick walk to the Big House was something he could easily handle.

Nico pushed his way out of the infirmary without meeting anyone's eyes. He walked across the way and entered the Big House, all the while wondering how he was going to report what had happened. He was just deciding to start at the beginning of the quest and go from there when he paused just outside the rec room door, hearing voices from inside.

"…left Indiana and headed for California," someone was saying. He recognized the voice as belonging to Reyna and realized briefly that he hadn't noticed her absence at the infirmary tent. She must have recovered enough to rejoin the others as well. "We reached Death Valley a while later after no other interruptions and found Nyx's castle. It was right where she'd transported New Rome before the war."

Nico leaned against the wall and listened to Reyna recount what had happened at Nyx's Midnight Palace. He knew the time would come very soon when she could no longer give account, but until then he was perfectly content to put off his own questioning. He reasoned that it would be better to let Reyna finish her story without interruption, though really he knew he only wanted to delay having to share his news.

"…So Nico and I left the castle, and that's the last thing I remember," Reyna concluded a few minutes later, after an account of her battle against Nyx. "I woke up here a little while ago."

"So Hypnos is free," someone else said thoughtfully—Annabeth, Nico was almost certain. "If that's true, then why haven't we heard from the gods? It's been hours, and as far as we know, nothing on Olympus has changed."

This struck Nico as odd, but his attention was diverted when Chiron said, "Perhaps Hypnos has had difficulty getting around Erebos. We may not know for some time. What I'm concerned about for the time being, however, is how this encounter with Nyx ended. But I suppose we'll have to wait until Nico has recovered to hear a full account."

Nico's heart skipped a beat at the sound of his name and he realized he couldn't delay any longer. With a deep breath, he reached for the doorknob and twisted it, pushing the door open with numb resolve and stepping into the room.

Only about half the usual council was present, but all eyes turned to the doorway at once. "Nico," Percy said in alarm, rising to his feet from his place on the sofa beside Annabeth.

Someone uttered a breathy "Oh!" and the next thing Nico knew his field of vision was covered by a head of curly, brown hair as Hazel leapt up and threw her arms around him, causing him to stagger backward a step in surprise. He returned the embrace momentarily before she backed up and asked, "How are you? Are you alright?"

He gave her a weak smile, her concern genuinely helping to lessen the dead weight on his shoulders. "I'm fine," he promised. "Still a bit tired, that's all."

"Glad to see you back on your feet," Chiron said with a smile as Hazel stepped aside. "Reyna has just finished recounting the events of your quest up until her return to camp. Now, I know everyone is wondering, so I'll say it first. If you're feeling up to it, we'd like to know the rest of the story. Why you ran off again so suddenly earlier tonight, and what you found."

Nico met Chiron's eyes. For some reason, it felt as though the centaur knew exactly what Nico had found when he'd returned to Death Valley. How that could be possible, he wasn't sure. But even if it was, the collection of wide eyes around them told him that Chiron was the only one with any possible knowledge.

"Nyx is gone," Nico answered, deciding to go for the good news first. A fragile tension rose suddenly around the rec room as everyone reacted to this news with tentative hope.

"What do you mean?" Reyna asked sharply.

"I mean gone. Defeated. Not dead, but definitely out of commission. Her part in this war is done, no question."

"Awesome!" Larry, a centurion from the Second Cohort, said excitedly with a broad grin.

"How?" Reyna persisted in apparent disbelief.

Nico tried not to cringe. Now came the hard part. "When I got back to Death Valley, the castle was destroyed. I could sense her inside, but her aura was so weak it was hardly even there. When we found Hypnos, he told us about a spell we could use to trap her there—the same kind of blood magic the gods use to seal immortals in the Underworld. It only requires immortal fire—which, thanks to Leo, we had access to. When I brought Reyna back here, I'm guessing Leo used the spell to bind Nyx to the castle and then… demolished it."

Many council members looked extremely pleased with this news, grinning at their neighbors and laughing at their good fortune. A few, however, exchanged looks of confusion.

"What do you mean, you're 'guessing'?" Percy asked with an uncertain frown.

"Well…" Nico said evasively, and Percy's eyes flashed anxiously like he had an idea where that sentence was going.

"Nico," Piper said in a brittle voice, "where's Leo? Why didn't he come back with you?"

"I…" he started weakly, breaking off at once. No more avoiding the issue. He had to answer that question, and he had to answer it truthfully. He breathed a heavy sigh and admitted with leaden finality, "Leo's dead."

Every smile around Nico slowly slid away in shock. Piper gave a choked gasp, her kaleidoscope eyes filling instantly with tears. Percy froze like a statue. Annabeth grimaced as though in pain. Jason made an odd jerking movement, looking like he was about to be sick. Hazel threw both hands over her mouth and hunched her shoulders like a cold draft had blown through the room.

"What…?" Frank spoke first, his mouth dropping open. "You're joking, right?"

Nico stared at him with incredulity. "Why in Hades would I joke about something like this?"

"No, of course you wouldn't, I just mean—" Frank backtracked absentmindedly, looking stunned. "I don't understand… It's _Leo_. This can't…"

Nico stopped listening. He caught Reyna's eye across the room and her expression startled him. She still looked worn out, like she hadn't completely healed from her fight with Nyx. But her eyes were alert—wide, dark, and unblinking. Her mouth was slightly open in shock; her eyebrows twitched and chin quivered just barely as though she wanted to speak but didn't have the right words. With a jolt, Nico remembered the look on her face after Leo had kissed her—surprised, but… accepting, strangely glad even. Nico had thought Piper, Leo's best friend, would be hurt the worst by this news. Maybe that wasn't entirely correct.

"I was afraid that might be it," Chiron said heavily, and Nico frowned at him. When he received a few other questioning glances, he sighed, looking worn and tired, and explained, "The prophecy. It warned us this would happen."

"Of course," Annabeth breathed. "'Hero's sacrifice buries the night'."

"I _told_ him not to be a hero," Piper said miserably, tears now dripping down her face.

"Well, like it or not, he was," Octavian cut in, his firm tone of voice startling a few people. "He defeated Nyx—the one responsible for killing so many of us in June. Now one of the two gods leading this war is out. I say we use this chance we've been given and take advantage of Erebos's moment of weakness."

That may have been a bit insensitive, but the simple fact that Octavian had, in a way, complimented Leo—a Greek whom he was known to particularly dislike—overshadowed this by a long shot. Nico wasn't the only one staring a bit dumbfounded at the augur. What exactly had happened here while they'd been away?

Reyna suddenly raised her chin, drawing herself up. "I… agree with Octavian," she said stiffly, her expression now an emotionless mask. "We haven't the time to grieve right now. We're in a war—one that, with a bit of luck, may not last much longer."

"Being rid of Nyx is great and all," said Butch, the counselor from the Iris cabin. "But we still don't stand much chance against Erebos without the gods. Hypnos had better get them free soon."

"Either way," Reyna added, "we need to make sure we're ready for when he does. Jason, I'm going to want to speak with you immediately about what's happened during my absence. If we're going to rally the Legion for battle, I need to know where we stand."

Jason blinked and turned toward his fellow praetor, the nauseous look on his face fading to a sort of blank confusion. "Huh? …What?"

Reyna's eyebrows drew together and her eyes darkened. "Jason," she said more firmly. "Are you listening?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Jason said absently. "No—I heard you. You're right. We should move."

Reyna nodded, though she still looked irritated. "Octavian, you as well. Chiron, if there's nothing else that requires our immediate attention…?"

Chiron frowned. "No, we've gone over the necessary information here. But Reyna, make sure you don't overdo it. You had a bit of a close call this morning." Reyna nodded curtly and rose to her feet, beckoning the Romans after her with a steely expression. As they began filing out, Chiron turned to the remaining campers and said, "Butch, if you would—the Hephaestus cabin is busy with electrical work and couldn't make this meeting. …They'll need to be told about their counselor."

Butch nodded solemnly. "I'll pass on the message." He picked up his crutches and stood, following the Romans out with Chiron right behind him. This seemed to signal the end of the meeting, and others began shuffling toward the doorway as well.

A few people stayed behind, however. Piper dropped heavily into an armchair and hid her face in her hands. Annabeth stood up and pulled Percy, who was staring straight ahead with a blank expression, into a tight hug. Hazel, still standing beside Nico, clasped her hands together and muttered, "This is my fault. Oh…"

Nico turned to her, startled. "Your fault? How? You weren't even there."

Hazel grimaced, tears in her eyes. She turned to face Nico but wouldn't look him in the eye. "I… I made him promise to look out for you, t-to make sure you made it home."

"Me?" Nico said in surprise. His little sister had really been that worried for him?

She nodded numbly. "I couldn't lose you again. Not after last month. But I didn't want—I mean, I didn't mean for…" A sob interrupted her broken sentence and she bowed her head, looking ashamed. A little stunned, Nico wrapped his arms around her in a rare comforting gesture. Her hands clung instantly to his shirt and she buried her face in his shoulder. With a sharp, painful pang he was reminded of his other sister, Bianca—of the day she'd left camp on a quest and never come back. He'd asked Percy to protect her, the same as Hazel had done with Leo. And in both cases, someone had wound up dead.

"Hey, don't…" he said haltingly. "Look, don't think like that. Octavian was right—thanks to Leo, we've got an opportunity here. Nyx is done. Erebos is all that's left. And soon we'll have the gods back on our side. This is the first good chance we've had to end all this. And you know he'd kill us for not taking it."

Hazel pulled slowly back, taking a deep breath. As her fingers poked absentmindedly at the dried blood on Nico's shirt over his left shoulder, he saw tear marks on her face. "I know," she said. "I do. I just want this all to be over."

Nico forced a weak smile as she finally looked up at him. "It will be soon. It has to be."

"I still just can't believe it," Frank muttered from behind his girlfriend. He had a bewildered sort of expression on his face. "It doesn't feel real—feels like a bad dream. We were doing so well, keeping everybody safe. And now…"

As Hazel moved to grip Frank's hand, Nico lowered his gaze to the floor and stayed silent. He resisted the urge to point out that the war wasn't over yet, and that their losses likely weren't finished counting up. The battle with Erebos and his army was still ahead, and gods or no gods, Nico didn't believe for a second that it would be anything close to easy.

Somehow, he couldn't shake the unnerving feeling that the worst was yet to come.

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><p><strong>What do you think? Could he be right? Could things actually get worse? Considering my penchant for drama, I'd say it's likely. Next chapter set is actually extremely dark and heavy, heh heh.<strong>

**And hey, this ain't over yet! Still a bit of a ways to go. Want another quick update? Then drop me a review! I'm sticking to it for now - the more I get, the faster you'll see the next chapter. Come on, surprise me! Haha :D**

**Later days, everybody!**

**-oMM**


	37. XXXVII Percy

**Hey, everybody! Thanks bunches for the reviews! As promised, I'm updating again nice and soon. So Happy Friday! :D This chapter's pretty short, but it kind of sets the tone for this set. You'll see what I mean.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XXXVII<br>PERCY**

Later that morning, a few hours after what should've been sunrise, Camp Half-Blood had their first big campfire in over a month.

Sure, they'd lit fires from time to time during the war. But with everything going on, attendance was never mandatory or even encouraged like their daily gatherings before. It was just something to do if you were between shifts on guard duty or had time to kill before a training match at the arena. There would hardly be more than ten or fifteen kids present at a time. But even in their increased urgency and fear, the campfire on the morning of Saturday, July 30th was the closest thing to a normal event that had happened in what felt like a lifetime.

Every Greek camper who wasn't confined to the infirmary had gathered at the amphitheater. Usually they sat in groups according to cabin. But this time, everyone was jumbled together—one group of one family. It was odd, but at the same time strangely heartening. Romans were mixed in among them as well, though only the ones who weren't otherwise occupied. After all—the burning of burial shrouds was a Greek tradition.

Percy sat next to Annabeth and listened numbly as Piper recited a few forced words about both Drew and Leo. He still couldn't believe this had happened. They'd lost not one, but two campers in the same night—including one of Percy's best friends. Erebos's threat still weighed heavily in his mind, reminding him that every hour of inaction brought him closer to losing someone else. Annabeth hadn't been wrong when she'd told him to slow down and consider their options, but the problem was that those options were running out. A painful lump formed in his throat as Nyssa stepped forward to help Piper lay the shrouds—pale pink silk embroidered with a white dove for Drew and alternating red, orange, and steel-gray chain links for Leo—over the fire. Watching them melt and burn made him feel sick. He didn't want to have to see any more burial shrouds go up in smoke.

All around people were muttering quietly, looks of fear or sadness on their faces as they consoled or discussed the situation with their neighbors. The crackle of the flames joined the chatter as they blazed, casting flickering light across the darkness and throwing the spectators in eerie, dancing shadows. Percy tried not to think of Leo when he stared into the fire, and judging by the way a few of his friends were obviously avoiding it he wasn't the only one.

"This is a waste of time," Reyna said in a low voice to Jason. Sitting in the row in front of them, Percy frowned in mild annoyance. Feeling Annabeth tighten her grip on his arm, he turned around on the bench in time to see Reyna stand up and signal to the Romans seated around her. "Let's get back to work."

Jason didn't respond, but stood up slowly as she turned to leave. She pushed between Percy and Lou Ellen and stepped over the lowest bench, dropping onto the ground and looking irritated.

"Hey," Percy said sharply, pulling his arm from Annabeth's hold and rising to his feet. "How about showing a little respect? This is a funeral, you know."

Her eyes narrowed just barely, but rather than respond she turned on her heel and marched away. He probably should've let her go, but the built-up tension in his body and mind were too volatile, and her attitude was making him angry. "Hey!" he said again. "Reyna!" A few people around them were looking around at the disturbance, but Percy didn't care. He went after Reyna and caught up with her just outside the amphitheater, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her to a stop.

Reyna spun around and glared at him. "This may come as a shock to you, Mr. 'Watch-me-protect-everyone-from-every-danger', but people die in war. End of story. I don't see why something like this is necessary when we have more pressing things to worry about."

"You may think this is a 'waste of time'," Percy argued, a little surprised at how harsh and cold she sounded, "but it's a tradition we aren't letting go of, war or no war. I figured you'd understand that. You might be serious, but you never did strike me as the heartless type."

Her eyes flashed. "_Heartless?_ I—" Her voice broke off abruptly and she shook her head, momentarily anxious expression hardening once again to a blank mask. "I didn't want this any more than you did. But wasting our time crying over the deaths of soldiers—"

"Of _friends_," he corrected her. "Maybe you didn't know Drew, but you can't tell me Leo meant absolutely nothing to you after everything we've—"

"It doesn't _matter!_" Reyna leaned toward Percy threateningly, her eyes suddenly so full of some unreadable, fierce emotion that he took an unconscious step backward. She opened her mouth to speak, but someone else suddenly shouted "Stop it!" and they both turned to see that Annabeth had followed them out of the Amphitheater.

"That's enough," she said sternly as she approached, an anxious look in her eyes. "Fighting is the _last_ thing we need to be doing right now."

"Come on, Reyna," Jason said as he too appeared beside Annabeth. Behind them, other people were slowly trickling out of the amphitheater. "We've got work to do. You said so yourself."

"Right," Reyna said shortly. She turned and stalked away without another glance at anyone, and Jason sighed shortly and exchanged a weak, sad smile with Percy and Annabeth before following her.

Annabeth rounded on Percy immediately, crossing her arms and shooting him her best _What-in-the-name-of-Zeus-were-you-thinking? _glare.

"What?" he said defensively, still more than a little irritated. "Don't go throwing this all on me." Reyna had never been the most empathetic of people, but she hadn't ever stood in the way of or deliberately argued with any of the Greeks' customs or traditions before. What had gotten into her that she suddenly couldn't cooperate anymore?

Annabeth gave a short sigh. "Of course not, it's just… Try to cut Reyna some slack, okay? You know she has a difficult time expressing how she feels."

"Cut her some _slack?_" Percy repeated in disbelief. "Annabeth, Leo's dead! A-And she's acting like—like she doesn't even care! How can I—?"

"Trust me, she cares. More than you know."

Percy frowned. "What's that mean?"

"Reyna and Leo…" Annabeth stopped and shook her head with a low sigh. She blinked, her eyes looking suddenly watery, and said in a defeated sort of voice, "Look, it doesn't matter. Just please, Percy, give her space. She has to deal with this her way. …We all do."

The negative energy seemed to sweep out of Percy's body all at once, leaving him feeling tired and dejected. He reached out and pulled Annabeth into him, feeling her wrap her arms tightly around his back as she leaned her head against his collar. "I know," he said languidly. "You're right. As usual."

She gave a weak chuckle and leaned back to look up at him. "You should get some rest."

"But I'm not—"

"Seaweed Brain, don't even try to say you're not tired. You've been up all night _and_—might I remind you—you did fight two drakons yesterday. Now you're picking fights with people. You're exhausted, and you need to sleep." She pulled out of his arms and instead reached out to take his hand. "Come on, I'll come with you. I could use some time off, too."

He smiled, realizing that this was one of those times when she wouldn't take no for an answer. Besides, maybe she had a point. His head had ached constantly since the fight against the drakons, a persistent reminder of Erebos's lingering threat. He'd wondered more than once if the minor head injury he'd suffered sparring with Frank and Hazel had weakened his mind and made it easier for Erebos to find him and deliver that message, whether or not that made any logical sense. He was worried that sleep would only serve to open his mind even more, like he'd be inviting Erebos to contact him again. But regardless, trudging around the camp tired and irritable wasn't a great idea. And it was still early. A few hours of rest hopefully wouldn't hurt.

The quick walk across the camp seemed to last far too long. Before Erebos's message, handfuls of people could be seen milling about, killing time chatting with one another or playing games. Now, though, it looked like everyone was busy. The youngest campers—children from New Rome and little kids the satyrs had brought through the borders—weren't even out and about like usual. The place felt more like a wartime refugee camp than ever.

A few other people were resting in Cabin Three when Percy and Annabeth arrived, which wasn't unexpected. Despite the fact that at least half the beds were empty, Annabeth followed Percy to his bunk in the corner and lied down beside him on top of the blankets—which also wasn't unexpected. After spending so many nights together in the deepest part of the Underworld, sleeping alone just didn't feel right anymore. To Percy, the night felt darker and colder now without Annabeth beside him, and she seemed to feel the same way. It wasn't awkward or uncomfortable, or anything they needed to talk about. It just was. And when she pulled his arms around her and rested her head on his chest, he found it easier not to think about all the madness and heartache the war was constantly bringing them. And he was able to finally achieve a bit of the rest he didn't want to admit he desperately needed.

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><p><strong>Short shorty short... Next two chapters are longer and more exciting, I promise. But in a slightly different way than usual. Want 'em up quick? How 'bout some reviews? :D<strong>

**Thank you all! Later days!**

**-oMM**


	38. XXXVIII Percy

**Happy Monday, everybody! For now, anyway. Might not be so happy once you read this chapter. It's a bit on the dark side. Heh...**

**Thanks to all of you who reviewed over the weekend! Love you all! Here's a chapter to show my appreciation :D Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XXXVIII<br>PERCY**

If Percy had been hoping to sleep peacefully, he was out of luck—as usual.

Just like his dream a few nights ago, he found himself on the beach at Montauk, standing in the gray sand while black water lapped slowly and lazily at the shore. The sky above was dark and starless, and a dry, stale sort of breeze was blowing. Everything was quiet save for the low sound of the surf brushing against the sand; his own breathing seemed louder than a trumpet chorus.

Something felt wrong—even more so than last time. Nervous, Percy spun around, feeling as though someone or something was standing behind him, breathing down his neck. But all he saw was the great, dark shadow spread over everything in sight. Shivering despite the uncomfortable, dry wind, he turned around slowly to face the water, and his heart almost stopped when he saw a figure.

There was a person—slender and of average height—standing down by the water. He felt a swell of familiarity—he couldn't see who it was, but he knew them, without a doubt. Tentatively he started toward them, hating how loudly the rough sand slid under his feet. He'd made it halfway when the breeze gusted and swept the person's hair from their neck—long, blonde, curly. It was Annabeth.

"Annabeth!" Percy called, picking up speed and sprinting the rest of the way to the water. She was standing with her back to him, the tide washing up around her ankles, staring out to sea.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said quietly without turning around. Her voice sounded misty and distant, like it was part of the wind. "The darkness."

"What?" Percy said anxiously. She wasn't making sense. Besides, they didn't have time to stand around and marvel at nature. He had a horrible feeling that they shouldn't be there—that they needed to leave right away.

"It's okay," Annabeth said in that same dreamy voice, not taking her eyes from the black horizon.

"'Okay', what—? Annabeth, we should leave. Like, now. Something's coming and I don't—"

"Don't you see? The darkness is already here."

Finally, she turned slowly away from the water, twisting toward him. The first thing he saw was the gentle smile on her face, and the second was the bloody gash across her neck.

Percy's breath froze in his throat. A wrenching pain stabbed at his chest and spread through his muscles so he suddenly felt like his skin was on fire. Smile never fading, Annabeth collapsed in what felt like slow motion, and Percy barely had the willpower to force his legs forward those last few steps to catch her before she hit the ground. He sank to his knees in the sand, holding onto her as his eyes blurred with the horrible sight of scarlet staining her orange T-shirt.

"N-No," he stammered in shock. This wasn't real. This wasn't happening. "W-Wait… Annabeth—! What—How—?"

"The darkness, Percy," she whispered, her breath sounding short. She lifted a hand and pressed it weakly against his chest. "It's here."

Percy shook his head, feeling like he was being torn in two. "W-Why… This can't…" He squeezed Annabeth's shoulder unconsciously and swallowed an unpleasant jolt when her skin suddenly felt different—less substantial. Then right before his eyes, her body grew dark as though a light had been switched off, and she turned to dust in his arms.

"ANNABETH!" he screamed, hands shaking as he stared at the black ashes that had seconds ago been the dying form of the girl he loved. He staggered to his feet and stumbled backward, unable to breathe. The wind picked up and blew his hair across his eyes, tore at his clothes and hurled sand into the air all around him. He yelled in frustration and anguish, squeezing his eyes shut and clutching his head in his hands.

"_You can try to hide in the light,_" an all-too-familiar, whispery voice echoed in his mind. "_But every light casts a shadow._"

"NO!" Percy shouted in defiance. He started to run, not knowing where to and only focused on getting away. He opened his eyes, but instantly a horrible image flashed before them—Jason Grace, on his knees and bleeding from a stab wound in his stomach. Percy yelled again and ducked his head low, shutting his eyes and trying to block out the visions. But they kept coming—Hazel screaming amid a blaze of fire, Frank with a rope around his neck, Nico pulling an arrow from his chest. He couldn't take it anymore. With a strangled scream he stumbled to a stop and collapsed onto the beach, curling his body in on itself and pressing his hands so hard against his pounding head that he could almost feel his skull cracking.

"_Light has a way of strengthening darkness,_" Erebos's voice taunted him. "_And the darkness will always find you._"

"Stop…" Percy said weakly, his voice hoarse and his throat dry.

"_Only you can stop it. While you run, your friends die. If you want it to end… you know what to do._"

Another image flashed across his mind—of Erebos standing before his huge, black throne, spreading his arms wide in welcome. He smiled, and with a scream of pain Percy shoved the vision from his head and sat bolt upright in his bed at Camp Half-Blood.

It took him a minute to realize where he was. The cabin was dark, and flashes of blood and swirling shadows kept swimming across his eyes and blurring his vision. He barely heard as someone whispered his name behind him, and it took a loose tug on the back of his shirt to get him to turn around and see Annabeth leaning up on her elbows, watching him with worry in her storm-gray eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah," he answered, realizing he was out of breath and his forehead was damp with sweat. His head was aching more insistently than ever. "Just… a nightmare." His gaze dropped to her neck and for a second he thought he saw red. He squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head, clasping his hands in his lap in an effort to stop them from shaking. All of that wasn't real. It was just a dream.

He felt her hand rest firmly on his shoulder, a comforting gesture. She could tell how shaken he was—which wasn't surprising. She had her mother's wisdom, and knew him better than anyone else. Swallowing the lump in his throat and trying to forget what he'd seen, Percy turned and wrapped his arms around Annabeth's shoulders, pulling her into a tight embrace and burying his face in her hair. Her arms slid around his back and she breathed out slowly and steadily, almost reassuringly.

Feeling the tension in his body start to fade, he asked carefully, "This is real… right?"

The question sounded stupid and immediately Percy wished he hadn't said it. But Annabeth didn't laugh or scoff. She just tightened her hold on him and whispered, "Yes, it's real. I'm right here. I'll always be right here. With you."

It was like she knew what he'd seen in his dream, knew exactly what it was he wanted to hear. The trouble was that it didn't reassure him as much as either of them could hope. The dream had been exactly that—a dream. But more than that, it had been a message. Erebos was getting impatient. Clearly he'd assumed Percy would turn himself over after watching Drew die. And in truth, he'd wanted to do just that. But he'd delayed at the request of his friends, and Erebos wasn't happy. If the King of Darkness didn't get what he wanted, then those visions in Percy's dream—the horrible images of his friends dying painful deaths—they wouldn't stay visions for long. Erebos would make sure they came true.

And after losing one of his friends—his family—already, Percy was determined not to let it happen again.

Slowly he pulled away from Annabeth, giving her a weak smile. "Thanks," he said a bit sheepishly. "I'm sorry for waking you. It was stupid, the dream. We should… probably get back to sleep."

She smiled back, warmly and reassuringly. "Yeah. If Erebos is coming tonight, we'll need rest to defend ourselves." She squeezed his shoulder and shifted on the bed, straightening the blanket beneath her and preparing to lie back down for hopefully a few more hours of sleep.

"Annabeth," Percy said suddenly, fighting a painful tightening sensation in his chest. She sat straight and looked around at him, raising her eyebrows questioningly, and without hesitation he leaned forward and kissed her. Not a light, brief goodnight kiss, but a _real_ kiss—deep and lingering, so full of emotion that when he slowly pulled back and she opened her eyes they were vaguely dazed and unfocused.

"What was that for?" she asked with a tiny smile, her voice quiet and breathy.

He shook his head. "Nothing, just… You know I love you, right?"

Her eyebrows drew together momentarily at the serious tone in his voice, her smile faltering. "Of course," she answered. "I love you, too."

He smiled, prompting her to relax a bit and smile back. Then he jerked his head toward the pillows and she turned around, lying down on her side and shifting until she was comfortable. He dropped down behind her and slung an arm over her stomach, smile fading as his eyes traced the curls in her hair. Between memories of the dream and the adrenaline now flooding his veins, he was no longer tired in the slightest and knew he wouldn't be falling asleep anytime soon. But for now, that didn't matter. He was content to just lie there with Annabeth, listening to her breathe and taking in the warmth in her body for even just a little while longer.

-ψ-ψ-ψ-

It took barely half an hour for Annabeth to fall asleep and silence to fall in Cabin Three. Tentatively, Percy poked his girlfriend in the back to make sure she was really out. When she didn't react, he gave a short sigh of conviction and sat up slowly, climbing off the bed as carefully as he could. He grabbed Riptide off his bedside table and slid the pen in his pocket. Then he glanced around the cabin and saw no movement, concluding that he was the only one awake, and shot one long, final look at Annabeth before quietly exiting the cabin and snapping the door shut behind him.

His mind was made up. The dream-message from Erebos had reinforced what he already knew—that his friends were in danger and he would do anything to protect them. Defending the camp was all well and good, but as Reyna had said, this was war. And people would die. The only way to stop that was to give Erebos exactly what he wanted and hope he kept his end of the bargain.

One reassuring fact was that technically speaking, Leo, Nico, and Reyna's quest had been a success. Hypnos was freed and at some point soon the rest of the gods would be, too. The problem was that they had no idea when that would happen, and frankly Percy didn't want to take any chances. He had to hope that he would at least be able to keep Erebos busy for long enough until his father and the other gods could take him down. Maybe no one else had to die at all. At the very least, it was worth a try.

Aiming to avoid any awkward questions, Percy crept around behind Cabins One and Two and made his way through the shadows across the camp. The Roman guards around the camp's borders stood a good twenty yards apart, leaving plenty of room to sneak by them. Making sure to keep out of range of the stadium lights set around various points of the camp, he snuck toward the border as quickly and quietly as he could.

He was almost there when, naturally, a voice called out, "Hey! What are you doing?"

Percy flinched and ground to a halt, recognizing the voice. He spun slowly to see a Roman guard dressed in battle armor and holding a strung bow jogging toward him.

"Percy?" Frank said in bewilderment. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, hey, how's it going?" Percy replied with a forced grin.

Frank slowed to a stop beside him. "What are you doing out here?"

"Oh, you know. Just making sure border patrol is tight enough. If Erebos attacks we're gonna need to know straight away."

"Oh," Frank said with a frown. "Right, well… Don't worry, we've got it covered."

Percy's mind was racing. He needed a way to get by Frank, and quickly before anybody else realized where he was. "Good," he replied lamely. "That's good. So, I'm just gonna go make sure the road is clear, and—"

"But nobody's supposed to leave camp alone," Frank interrupted, darting forward as Percy started to edge toward the border. "Is it important? Should I come with you?"

Percy bit his tongue to hide his irritation. "No, you shouldn't leave your post. I'll be fine by myself."

He started to walk away again but this time Frank reached out and grabbed his arm. With a slightly worried and skeptical expression, he asked, "This isn't about Erebos's threat, is it?"

Percy grimaced. Sometimes he hated how perceptive his friends were.

When he didn't answer, Frank's eyes widened. "It is, isn't it? You can't do what he says, Percy, remember we agreed—"

"Hey, what's that?" Percy said suddenly, doing his best to look alarmed as he pointed at something over Frank's shoulder. He must have succeeded in catching the son of Mars off guard because he let go of Percy's arm and turned around. With a mental message of _Sorry, Frank, _Percy quickly pulled his sword from his pocket, uncapped it, and jammed the hilt against the back of his friend's head. Frank crumpled to the ground, knocked out cold.

Percy cringed in sympathy and looked around to make sure no one else was headed his way. When the coast looked clear, he shot Frank one more apologetic look and turned away, running through the magical border and leaving Camp Half-Blood behind.

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><p><strong>Wuh-oh. This can't be good. Not that anyone didn't see it coming, haha.<strong>

**We finally get some answers next chapter. More reviews = faster updates! Later days, guys!**

**-oMM**


	39. XXXIX Percy

**Hi guys! Thanks for the reviews :D Ready for a few of those answers I promised you? Then read on ;) Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XXXIX<br>PERCY**

It didn't take Percy long to reach the Empire State Building once he'd stolen and hot-wired an abandoned car not far from camp (though he'd had to contend with an unexpected rush of grief when he remembered it was Leo who'd taught him to hot-wire a car in the first place). The vehicle had gotten the attention of a few stray monsters throughout the city, but he ran them down or avoided them without much thought, his mind focused on his goal.

He drove right up to the building and got out of the car, uncapping his sword as Erebos's welcoming committee—a pair of seven-and-a-half-foot Laistrygonian giants—lumbered forward to greet him.

"Hey there," he called to them. "I've got an appointment with the head honcho. Maybe you can—Whoa!" He leapt aside as one of the giants swung his heavy club. It smashed against the roof of the car, crushing the metal beneath it. "Jeez, I know I'm a little late, but that's no reason to be rude. How about you let me explain?"

The two giants exchanged what might have been confused looks. "You want to see the King?" the one with the club said gruffly. "Then you have to go through us!"

Percy shrugged. "If you say so." He dodged another swing of the huge, wooden club and slashed out with Riptide, cutting into the monster's arm. The giant howled in pain and stumbled as his partner hefted a gigantic axe and jumped forward, swinging it downward in a deadly arc. Percy spun to the side and followed up by driving the blade of his sword into the giant's gut. The monster barely had time for a deep-throated yell before Percy dragged the sword sideways and it broke free, reducing the giant to dust.

He wiped the blade of his sword on his jeans and looked up expectantly at the other giant, raising his eyebrows. The remaining monster seemed to shrink a bit in surprise. Then he raised his club above his head and gave a fierce battle cry before charging forward with full force.

"_Sssstop!_" a raspy, reptilian voice interrupted, and Percy turned quickly to see a Scythian dracaena hurrying toward them from the building entrance, twin snake legs hopping and slithering across the pavement. The giant, however, either didn't hear or chose to ignore her order, because a second later something hard slammed Percy in the shoulder, throwing him off his feet.

"No!" the dracaena shrieked. "Enough, you _imbecile!_ Do you not realisssse who this is? The King has ordered that Percy Jacksssson _not be harmed!_"

_Now she tells him_, Percy thought bitterly as he pushed himself up on his hands and knees. He bit back a gasp as pain shot through his shoulder and down his right arm. Cursing himself for letting his guard down, he climbed to his feet and gripped his sword with his left hand, his right hanging uselessly at his side.

"Jackson?" the giant repeated. He pointed dully to the pile of dust that used to be his partner and said, "But, he killed my—"

"I don't care! I'm ssssure your idiot friend will return ssssoon. Now sssstay here and try not to causssse more trouble!" The dracaena turned and pointed a finger at Percy. "You," she snapped. "Follow me."

Percy rolled his eyes and did as she said. She led him inside the Empire State Building and past the monster guards in the lobby, straight to the main elevator. As she inserted a keycard and pressed the red button labeled 600 that appeared as a result, Percy remembered with a pang of nostalgia the first time he'd ever ridden this elevator to Olympus—summer five years ago, twelve years old with Zeus's master lightning bolt in his backpack. It had been the first time he'd met his father, seen him face-to-face. He tried hard not to think that this time, now, could very well be his last ascent to the mountain of the gods.

The other times Percy had visited Mount Olympus, it had been lively and bright, exactly what you'd expect for an immortal city. But this time, he was struck by how much the place had changed. Under Erebos's rule, it was dark and shadowy, just like the ground far below, and instead of frolicking nature spirits and partying gods the city was inhabited only by various monsters doing whatever it was monsters did in their time off from hunting demigods. A cold breeze blew down from the mountain and Percy shivered as he followed his dracaena escort up the winding stairs through the city, the adrenaline in his blood turning to ice. His shoulder, which he now suspected was dislocated, throbbed painfully, cutting through the cold.

_Well, guess this is it,_ he thought numbly as they reached the entrance to the Olympian palace. He didn't know what Erebos planned to do with him or why his surrender was so important, but he did know one thing: once that door was open, there'd be no turning back.

And with that happy thought, he stood by and waited as the dracaena knocked twice on the doors and they slowly began to swing inward. She stepped aside to let him pass, and as he walked into the room, he froze in alarm.

Not one of the thirteen gigantic thrones was empty. On each one sat a god, in oversized human form, sleeping soundly. Some were still and quiet, like Hera, whose head was tilted toward her husband, and Artemis, whose legs were curled beneath her like a cat. Others, though, were less so—Hermes seemed to toss and turn restlessly and Hephaestus gave a great, thundering snore every few seconds. Percy's eyes traveled instantly to his father's throne, where Poseidon was out cold with his head tipped forward, chin against his Hawaiian T-shirt. He didn't see any of the minor gods and assumed they must have been imprisoned elsewhere on the mountain.

But that wasn't all that was odd. In the very middle of the room sat a new feature—a huge, black throne made of volcanic glass, with a jagged, pointed back that rose in sharp spires and reflected the black and blue fire blazing in torches on the walls. And in that throne sat the King of Darkness, Erebos—ten feet tall and dressed in a black satin tuxedo. He looked just like he had in Percy's dream and the message he'd been shown, but standing before him, face to face, was very different. The god's powerful aura sank through Percy's skin and made him feel instantly as though he wanted nothing more than to lie down at the base of that glass throne and give up on everything. It was one of the worst, most helpless feelings he had ever experienced.

"Ah," Erebos said slowly in his low, quiet voice. "Welcome, Percy. I have been awaiting your promised visit." He smiled, and Percy felt an odd sort of stirring feeling in his chest—like a swell of familiarity, of… excitement. It didn't make sense. How could he possibly be feeling excited right now? "I must say, I'm glad you've accepted my invitation. As you can see, my other guests are rather dull." He spread his hands toward the Olympian gods with a smirk and Percy felt a twinge of annoyance. Erebos's gaze shifted toward the back corner of the room and, curious, Percy turned to look, his heart sinking at what he saw.

In the corner of the room, at the end of the left row of thrones, was a clear, glass container, and inside it was the god of sleep, Hypnos. Black, smoky ropes encased his body, covering his mouth and trapping his arms at his sides. On closer inspection, Percy realized that the ropes weren't only smoking, they were literally _on fire_—the same dark, black fire that burned in the torches on the walls. It was unlike any fire Percy had ever seen—deep and shadowy, swirling shades of black and blue light a starless night sky. It didn't appear to burn the rope or Hypnos for that matter, but whatever it was it must have been an effective way of locking the god away. His golden eyes stared into Percy's, and the only emotion he could read in them was anger.

"How…?" Percy muttered in shock, realizing that their small hope of freeing the gods had just gotten even smaller.

"Nyx is not the only one with power over her immortal children," Erebos replied.

Percy turned and glared at him, hands tightening into fists. "Well, I'm here," he said shortly. "So what do you want?"

Erebos raised an eyebrow. "Impatient, are you?" He nodded to the dracaena behind Percy and she left the room, allowing the doors to creak closed behind her. "Hmm… I believe I told you to come unarmed, did I not?" Erebos said, returning his attention to Percy and pointing a long, white finger at the sword gripped in his left hand.

"Yeah, well, your boys outside put up a fight. I couldn't just let them smash me, could I?"

Erebos frowned and clucked his tongue. "And I expressly ordered them to allow you safe passage. So difficult to find good help these days." Shaking his head, he stood and stepped away from his throne. He began to shrink before Percy's eyes, falling to the size of a normal human until he was only two or three inches taller than Percy. "I assure you their attack was not my intention. As an apology and a gesture of good faith…" He trailed off and reached forward. Percy took a step back reflexively, but Erebos was too fast. The tip of the god's finger lightly touched his injured shoulder and he cried out as he felt the bone slide painfully back into place.

"You may keep the sword if you wish," Erebos said with a wave of his hand as he turned and stepped back toward his throne. Percy rolled his shoulder experimentally and was grudgingly glad when he realized it had been healed. Then, despite the god's words, he re-capped Riptide and dropped the pen in his pocket, glaring at Erebos's smug smile. He knew as well as Erebos did—the sword wouldn't do him any good.

"Now then, to answer your question…" Erebos said as he stood in front of his throne, both hands on his walking cane. The black smoke that filled his empty eye sockets seemed to swirl with suddenly greater sharpness as his cruel smile widened and he finished, "What I want is your death."

Cold hands gripped at Percy's heart. It wasn't as though he hadn't seen that coming, but expecting and knowing for certain were two entirely different things.

"So what are you waiting for?" he snapped in a good impression of bravado. "Go ahead and kill me."

Erebos chuckled. "Not yet. Not until tonight."

"Why? What's so special about tonight?"

"Have you heard of a 'black moon'?" Erebos asked. When Percy remained silent, the god explained, "It is a lunar phenomenon that occurs a few times every year, when two new moons appear in the span of one month. As it so happens, tonight is the second new moon of July and therefore a black moon. The sky above my eternal night will be lightless, providing me the power I will need to complete my sister's spell."

Complete his sister's spell? What was he talking about? Some of Percy's confusion must have shown on his face, because Erebos smiled in amusement. "I can see you do not understand. Allow me to explain—after all, we have some time to kill. And I'm sure you would like to know _why_ your life must end before the time comes. You see, Percy, you provided the Elder Olympian blood that allowed my sister to break the immortal seal binding me in the Underworld. However, because you lived, the spell was incomplete. Nyx's magic was meant to turn your blood—Kronos's blood—to immortal darkness, darkness that I could absorb to become greater than all of the Titans' descendants. The process was begun when she injured you that night. But as long as blood continues to run in your veins, it will not be complete."

His expression darkening, Erebos stepped forward. "I'm sure you've felt it," he said coolly, raising his walking cane and pointing it toward Percy, who was standing frozen from a mixture of dread and fear. "That darkness—_my_ darkness." He poked Percy in the chest with his cane and again he felt that uncomfortable surge of anticipation, like something inside him was leaping for joy. And now, with Erebos's explanation, he thought he understood. The Oracle had warned him of a darkness inside him—he just hadn't realized that she'd meant a _literal_ darkness, a piece of the power that was meant to be Erebos's, binding them together through Nyx's unfinished spell. '_The blood-stained bond'_—it was real.

"No way…" he muttered in disbelief, suddenly feeling broken and tainted. He wished Erebos had refused to tell him the truth like a normal supervillain.

"I promise you, this is no lie or story. That darkness inside you calls to me—reaches out." Erebos raised a hand and touched two fingers to the front of Percy's shirt over his heart, and a sudden, searing pain twisted his insides in knots, like his lungs were trying to burst from his rib cage. He yelled and doubled over, staggering backward away from Erebos. The pain died down at once, leaving a ghostly ache behind. "You see?" Erebos said, sounding pleased. "I can feel it just as you can. But do not worry; it will all be over soon."

Percy raised his head to see a dark smirk spread slowly across the King of Darkness's face. "Tonight when you die in shadow," Erebos whispered, his voice barely louder than the flickering of his black fire, "your darkness—your power—will be mine."

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><p><strong>The lunar schedule of 2011 really suits my needs superbly, wouldn't you say? I mean, there really <em>was<em> a lunar eclipse in June and there really _was_ a black moon at the end of July. It's the little things, haha.**

**So anyway, there's that. I've had this whole explanation planned out for so long, it feels weird for it to be out in the open, haha. Seriously, it's been... since I started planning Blood and Sand? So like, almost a year ago? Oh gosh have I really been working on this for that long? Ugh, that makes me feel like I have no life outside fanfiction, hahaha... Wow, that's sad...**

**How 'bout a review? The next narrator set actually has a few _good_ things happen! I think you guys will like it, for a number of reasons. Drop me a review and the next chapter might be up Friday!**

**Later days, gang!**

**-oMM**


	40. XL Piper

**Hi gang! Happy Friday :D Thanks bunches for the reviews. This chapter is a bit mixed, tone-wise. Some of the good stuff I promised, though. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XL<br>PIPER**

Piper had never felt so terrible in her life.

First, she'd lost a sister—not a great friend, but a sister whose life she'd cared for all the same. Drew's death had cut into the sense of security she'd tried so hard to build, causing her wall to begin to crumble. She'd been responsible for her cabin mates. In becoming senior counselor, she'd taken their care and protection on herself. She wasn't so vain as to think her sister's death was her own fault, but that didn't mean she was free of responsibility. She had taken it for granted that they were safe inside the camp. And that had proven above all else that she'd been wrong.

And then as if that wasn't bad enough, their second loss had taken her crumbling wall of assuredness and demolished it, reducing it to an anguished, fearful pile of rubble. She and her friends had faced danger before. They'd fought battles. They'd won wars. And they'd always, _always_ survived. But now her best friend was dead, and the invincibility she used to imagine they all possessed had turned to ash.

Something Leo had told her before he left kept resurfacing in her mind: _Try to work things out. You don't know how much time you have left._ She knew, in theory, that he was right—that they were in a war and something terrible could happen at any minute. But it still didn't _feel _like it at the time. Things had been hard, but they had made it through every challenge that had been thrown their way. Deep down, Piper convinced herself long before that this was just another one of those times—that if she focused on the war, they'd get through it like they always did and she could worry about other things after. But she was wrong. And she hated that it took losing Leo to make her see it.

But she was going to take his words to heart this time. Because it was the undeniable truth—none of them knew how much time they had left. Another tragedy could strike any day, any minute, any second. And she had things she needed to do before anything like that happened.

After the campfire that morning, Piper remained in the amphitheater, watching the fire die down as her fellow campers left a few at a time. She sat there for hours, just thinking about the war and how things had changed. The longer she stayed in silence, staring into the pit of embers in front of her, her resolve began to harden. She couldn't change what had already happened, but there were still some things she _could_ change—things she _had_ to change.

That afternoon, her will was put to the test when she heard footsteps approaching to her left, and she looked up to see Jason descending the steps into the amphitheater.

Heart skipping a beat, Piper stood up slowly from her place on the lowest bench, and Jason's eyes found her immediately. "Piper," he said in an even voice, as though he'd expected to see her here. She couldn't read the look on his face, but this time when she met his eyes he didn't look away. That had to be a good sign.

Piper took a deep breath, wringing her hands. "I think we should talk," she said as calmly as she could. She remembered the last time they'd tried to talk and hated the thought of another disaster. "Now."

To her surprise, he said simply, "I think you're right."

He started toward her slowly from across the amphitheater and she breathed out in mild relief. So far so good. Turning to stare into the fire pit, she tried to gather her thoughts so as not to start off saying the wrong thing. After another steadying breath, she began, "I don't want—" But that was all she got out before Jason turned her around, slid his hands under her jaw, and forced her mouth closed by covering it with his own.

Piper forgot at once what she was going to say. She forgot everything—her fear, her sadness, her reluctance, even her resolve. A powerful warmth and contentment blanketed it all as the tension in her muscles vanished and excited stars burst behind her eyes. Jason pulled back after a few seconds and opened his mouth to speak, but Piper wasn't ready to talk yet. With a tiny smile, she gripped the collar of his shirt and pulled him toward her, pressing her lips back to his and letting her mind escape the present for just a little while longer, instead focusing on the feel of his hands on her waist and the smell of his hair and all the things she didn't realize how much she'd missed. Suddenly their fight seemed so stupid and pointless. What had it been about, anyway? Whatever it was, it couldn't have been anywhere near as important as this.

They separated at the same time and remained quiet for a long minute. Piper stared into Jason's eyes—the same light, comforting blue eyes that she'd fallen in love with at first sight, as deep and vast as the morning sky. The Mist's tampering with her memory had slowly worn off over the past year and a half, so that those first few months during which she'd thought she'd known Jason were fading away more and more every day. But she didn't mind; the void left room for the _real_ memories, the time they truly did spend together. Ever since that day at the Grand Canyon when Coach Hedge had rescued her, Jason, and Leo from—

And then like a wind tunnel it all came rushing back. The eclipse, New Rome, the war, their fight, Nyx, Erebos, Drew, Leo—everything that had temporarily vanished from Piper's mind was suddenly back and weighing down on her brief moment of happiness, turning it steadily blacker. She felt her brittle smile crumble and her eyes slowly drifted downward as she tried to gather her thoughts and remember what it was she'd needed to say.

But Jason beat her to it. "You were right," he said quietly, stepping back and taking both her hands in his. "You said I wasn't myself, and you were right. I knew it, but… I couldn't see the damage I was causing. Not to you, not to anybody. …I messed up. I mean _really_ messed up." He looked sideways into the burning embers in the middle of the amphitheater. "And now the universe has thrown it in my face, shown me what an idiot I am."

He grimaced like he was fighting to keep from being sick, making the scar on his lip look whiter than usual. Piper frowned in concern. There was more behind this than the obvious, she could tell. "Jason… Did something happen?"

He turned around and paced restlessly, running a hand through his hair. In a pained voice, he said, "...I told him not to come back."

She felt a sudden cold chill and folded her arms. "What?"

"Leo," he admitted, turning to face Piper and confirming her fear. "He tried to talk to me before he left, and I… The things I said to him, they were… horrible, awful."

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," Piper said, trying to be reassuring.

When Jason looked at her and shook his head, she felt a lump rise in her throat. "I told him he wasn't my friend," he said, his voice tight and strangled. He looked like he hated every word coming out of his mouth. "I told him he shouldn't come back. How could I do that? That was… This _wasn't_ what I wanted."

"But… it's okay," Piper argued weakly. "You didn't mean it."

"That's not the point. He died thinking we were never friends—that I wanted him gone. How is that okay?"

Piper was quiet for a beat. She didn't know what to say. If Jason was telling the truth—which he seemed to be—then she understood why he was so broken up. But she also understood that things couldn't have been as bad as he feared. For the first time in weeks, she realized that she felt genuinely sympathetic toward Jason, and she wanted more than anything to find the right words to say to help him. She remembered Mitchell's advice about empathy senses and said a quick prayer to her mother—wherever she was—before walking resolutely toward Jason and placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Jason, listen to me," she said in a firm voice. "Leo knew you didn't mean what you said, okay? I'm sure of it. You guys are—were friends. He knew you've had it rough and that your frustration must have gotten the better of you. Trust me, alright? If you cared about him—and I know you did—then he knew it."

He studied her eyes for a long few seconds. "You really think so?"

"I _know_ so. The three of us have been through a lot together. We know what we are to each other, and nothing you say when you obviously aren't yourself is gonna change that." She smiled, reaching up to trail her fingers along the side of his face. "Besides, you know Leo. Since when have words ever fazed him?"

Finally he smiled back, and Piper felt her heart swell with relief. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a hug, and she breathed a slow sigh, glad that things were finally returning to semi-normal between the two of them.

"Still," Jason said after a minute, pulling back to look Piper in the eye. "I'm not gonna let it happen again. Not with you. I'm done messing up. I'm not gonna lose you—not without you knowing how I feel about you. Piper, I… I'm so sorry. About everything." An almost desperate tone seemed to weave its way into his voice. "I love you. And I've missed you."

"I know," Piper promised. "Really, I do. I love you, too."

"We're not gonna lose anyone else," Jason said resolutely as he pulled her into another hug. He sounded so much like his old self that despite the dire situation, Piper couldn't help en elated grin. "Not this time. We can't."

But of course, that elation was short-lived. Piper had learned by now that the universe pretty much hated half-bloods, and she shouldn't have been surprised at all when they were interrupted only a few seconds later as Annabeth rushed into the amphitheater with a frantic expression on her face.

"Piper, Jason!" she called to them, hurrying over as they separated and turned to face her. "Have either of you seen Percy lately?"

Piper frowned and exchanged uneasy glances with Jason. "Not since this morning. Why?"

Annabeth bit her lip and sighed anxiously. "Well, it's… We were in his cabin and he was there when I fell asleep but when I woke up he was gone. I've looked everywhere, but I can't find him."

"We'll help you look," Piper said at once, worry swelling inside her. "I'm sure he's here somewhere. You know him, he likes to keep busy."

"I know, it's just… He was acting strange a few hours ago. He seemed… scared. And I'm just worried that… Well…"

Piper had a feeling she knew exactly what Annabeth was thinking, because she was thinking the same thing. "Come on, I'm sure there's somewhere you haven't checked." She nodded to Jason and led the way quickly out of the amphitheater, but they didn't get far before another interruption stopped them.

"Annabeth!" someone called, and Piper whirled around to see Frank running toward them, dressed in full battle armor from the neck down.

"Frank?" Annabeth recognized him as well, blinking in mild surprise. "What's wrong?"

Frank ground to a halt beside them, leaning over to catch his breath. "I've been looking for you," he panted, looking almost as anxious as Annabeth did. "It's Percy—he's gone."

Annabeth froze. Jason stepped forward and demanded, "What do you mean 'gone'?"

"I was on guard duty and I caught him trying to leave camp alone. I wasn't gonna let him go, but he knocked me out. I'm sorry, guys—I couldn't stop him. I think… I think he was going to Mount Olympus."

Piper gasped and Jason's eyes widened. Annabeth whispered "No…" and turned around so fast Piper was surprised she didn't keep spinning like a top. She set off at a run up the hill without another word.

"Annabeth—wait!" Piper called as she, Jason, and Frank hurried after her, fearing the worst. What had happened in the past notwithstanding, she wasn't about to let Annabeth go running after Erebos so easily. They would figure this out together.

The time for careless action was over. Because like Jason had said—they were done losing friends.

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><p><strong>Like I said, a mix of good and bad. Next chapter's about the same - drop me a review if you want it up on Monday!<strong>

**Have a good weekend, everybody :) Later days!**

**-oMM**


	41. XLI Piper

**Hey, guys! Another short chapter today, but one I don't think you guys will be too bummed about. Trust me, things are about to look up. We're leading up to the big final battle sequence, it's gonna get crazy pretty soon.**

**Thanks to those of you who reviewed last week! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XLI<br>PIPER**

"This isn't _fair_," Annabeth said irritably, unfolding her arms and glaring at Chiron. "You know if it were anyone else, he'd be the first to say we need to _do something._"

"And what would you say to him in return?" Chiron challenged, raising an eyebrow. Annabeth didn't answer, instead lowering her gaze to stare hard at the carpet in the living room of the Big House. With a heavy sigh, Chiron rolled his wheelchair around the end table beside the couch and approached the others. "Annabeth, I'm sorry. Really, I am. But a rescue mission to Mount Olympus would be extremely dangerous. I don't want to send anyone in there—not right now."

"I'll go myself," Annabeth suggested fiercely, gray eyes flashing. "Please, Chiron—I can't just sit here and do nothing."

Chiron frowned sadly. "I understand how you must feel. But consider this: we don't even know if there's any point."

Sitting on the sofa, Piper felt her heart clench painfully as the implication of those words struck her. Annabeth stared at Chiron, looking like he'd just slapped her across the face. "You're wrong," she said in a shaky voice. "He's alive. I know he is. He has to be."

"You haven't, uh… heard from the gods by any chance, have you?" Jason asked Chiron.

"I'm afraid not. I think now we need to consider the possibility that Hypnos was stopped by Erebos before he was able to wake the other immortals. If that really is the case, then we'll need a new game plan. Nyx's defeat was a major advantage. But it will take all our strength to bring Erebos down as well."

"All the more reason to focus on getting Percy back!" Annabeth insisted. Piper cringed at the look on her friend's face—it was rare to see the daughter of Athena this distraught. She would probably be halfway to the Empire State Building by now if Piper, Jason, and Frank hadn't caught up with her and forced her to the Big House first.

"Believe me," Chiron said patiently, "I want to see him return safely just as much as you do. But running off recklessly isn't the way to handle this situation. Think about it, Annabeth. I know you're more sensible than this."

"What's there to think about?" Annabeth argued. "He's always the one to save other people. All I want is to do the same for him."

Chiron frowned grimly. "Do you really think he would want you to?"

"I'm his girlfriend," Annabeth said matter-of-factly, crossing her arms. "I don't care what _he_ wants."

"I'm sorry, Annabeth," Chiron said again. "But we just aren't ready to take on Erebos without a serious plan."

After a few seconds of silent glaring, she said shortly, "Fine. But we'd better come up with one quickly." She spun around and stalked out of the Big House, slamming the door behind her and making everyone inside flinch.

"Uh… You don't think she'll do anything crazy, do you?" Frank wondered, sounding worried.

Piper stood up with an uneasy sigh. "I'll go talk to her."

"I'm coming with you," Jason said at once. Piper didn't have the heart to turn him down. She wasn't sure if he could help at all, but since they'd made up he seemed altogether unwilling to leave her side—a fact which she couldn't say was unwelcome. So she didn't object when he followed her outside, though she did at least make him promise to let her do the talking.

"Annabeth!" she shouted once her friend was within earshot, jogging after her to catch up.

Annabeth stopped and turned around slowly, and Piper had the feeling she was rolling her eyes. "If you're worried I'm going straight to Olympus, don't be. I know an order when it's implied."

"To tell the truth, I don't know what I'm worried about," Piper admitted. "You, Percy, the gods—heck, all of us here. Things haven't exactly been going so hot lately. The way our luck's been, I'm pretty sure fighting Erebos now would be more disastrous than usual."

Annabeth's eyebrows knitted together. "You don't know that."

It was strange, Piper thought, to see Annabeth acting so defiant. She was usually so calm and level-headed, always the first to shoot down recklessness and devise a proper plan of action. She must have been shaken to the core. Piper thought back on her dream and what she and Annabeth had discussed afterward—how they now had a pretty good idea of why Erebos wanted Percy. She tried to imagine what she would do in her friend's place. If Erebos had been after Jason, and Jason had surrendered to him, wouldn't she be trying to do the same thing?

"I know this completely sucks," Piper said sympathetically, feeling as though that were a huge understatement. "But if you think about it—"

"I don't want to think about it!" Annabeth burst out desperately, throwing up her hands. "All I've been doing lately is thinking about it. Ever since Erebos sent that message everything I've done has been to keep Percy from answering it. Every minute I worry that he's… planning some escape, working out how to leave without being seen. I can't stop imagining what Erebos plans to do to him, wondering every second I look at him if it'll be the last time I ever see him. And now he's gone and I'm scared that it's happened—that he won't be coming back! I don't _want_ to think that way anymore! I'm tired and I'm afraid and I've already lost one friend and I just can't—" Her voice cracked as a sob interrupted her sentence, breaking the end into silence. She wrapped her arms around herself and bowed her head as tears welled in her eyes and spilled down her face.

A little stunned, Piper was slow to act. But what surprised her was that Jason wasn't. He reached forward and grabbed Annabeth, folding her into his arms and letting her cry against his shoulder. At that moment, Piper was glad he'd come with her. Security like that was exactly what she thought Annabeth might need, and the simple truth was that when it came to reassuring hugs, they were really much better coming from someone bigger and stronger than you.

As Annabeth's sobs quieted, Piper reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "You're not alone in this," she said solemnly. "You're not the only one who's worried or afraid. I know things don't look good right now, but until this thing is over, we're going to keep fighting. We're going to find Percy, one way or another. But we need to do it together. You know how dangerous Erebos is."

Breathing slowly and brushing loose tears from her face, Annabeth pulled away from Jason and gave him and Piper a small smile. "I know," she admitted. "I just hate being powerless, not knowing what to do."

"That's why we have to figure it out," Jason said. "And for that, we're gonna need you. You're kind of the best strategist we've got."

"Kind of?" Annabeth repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Piper chuckled in relief, glad to see Annabeth returning closely to normal. "We can beat him," she said firmly. "We just need the right plan."

"And a whole lot of firepower," Jason added wryly.

Piper elbowed him in the side. "Not helping." Jason held up his hands and opened his mouth, but his response was drowned out by a sudden and loud mechanical roar that made them all jump in surprise.

_Festus?_ Piper wondered at once, recognizing the roar with ease. She remembered Nico telling them that he'd left the dragon in Death Valley, being unable to operate him, and talks had been made about sending someone to retrieve him. She'd forgotten all about Festus, to tell the truth, for which she felt kind of bad. But evidently someone must have succeeded in finding him. She would have to be sure to apologize to him at some point. It felt like something she ought to do.

But then a very familiar voice yelled a second later, "Hey! Somebody call for a little extra firepower?" and Piper's heart leapt into her throat. It was impossible. There was no way that voice was actually there. She had to have been imagining it—her subconscious still so swamped by grief that she could hear him in her head. Her mind was playing tricks on her, no doubt. Which was really unfair—she knew he was dead and that he wasn't coming back. But even then, she couldn't stop herself from spinning wildly around on the spot, eyes searching desperately for the sight she knew couldn't possibly be there.

But it _was_.

The ground beneath her, Jason, and Annabeth rumbled as the great, mechanical, bronze dragon landed flat on all fours, almost knocking them off their feet. And as if that wasn't enough of a jolt, Piper choked on her own breath when her eyes landed on the person seated at the base of the dragon's neck, familiar impish grin in place.

Leo was back.

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><p><strong>:D<strong>

**Review for another quick update! Later days, guys!**

**-oMM**


	42. XLII Piper

**Hey, everybody! Thanks bunches for the reviews! We're almost at 300 now! Hooray!**

**So this is another short chapter, but bear with me because I've got some loooong ones coming up in a little bit (I just finished writing chapter 49 after working on it for like a week and it's almost 7,000 words O_O That's more than five times the length of this one). It's almost the final stretch now!**

**Thanks, gang! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XLII<br>PIPER**

Piper screamed.

She couldn't help it. She just lost control of herself. The overwhelming feeling of relief and elation that was flooding through her was so great that it overpowered every other thought possible. Leo Valdez—her best friend in the world—was _alive_.

Completely forgetting about Jason and Annabeth, she scrambled toward Festus and launched herself at Leo as soon as his feet hit the ground, almost knocking them both over in her enthusiasm. She let out a giddy, disbelieving laugh and hugged him so tightly there was a good chance she compromised his ability to breathe. She felt his body tense as he grunted in pain, and she loosened her hold and held him at arm's length.

He was covered in dust and dirt, his skin littered with cuts and bruises. There was a rust-colored burn mark down his right arm, which Piper found strange, considering the fact that he was immune to fire. His white T-shirt was dirty and peppered with charred holes, and the lower half of it was stained a sickening dark red with blood from some wound she couldn't see, tied under a strip of dark green fabric. Judging by his appearance, it was a wonder he _wasn't_ dead.

But despite all that, Leo was still grinning at her the same way he always did. "Nice to see you, too, Piper," he said.

Piper stepped back and placed both hands on her hips. "I hate you, you know that?"

Leo laughed, grimacing slightly. "You greet all your enemies that way? Man, I'd like to see how you say hello to your friends." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Piper let out an exasperated sigh. Despite his having looked like a building had been dropped on him (which she supposed, if Nico was to be believed, one had), he must have been alright if he were able and willing to crack comments like that.

"I don't believe it," Annabeth said breathily, and Piper noticed that she and Jason had approached behind her. "You're… here."

"Well, yeah. I live here."

Jason stepped beside Piper, disbelief on his face. "But—we all thought you were dead!"

Leo raised his eyebrows. "Really? Huh. Guess that explains the lack of victory party back in the desert." He patted Festus on the side of the neck and the dragon whirred affectionately. "Lucky this guy was around or I'd've had to celebrate with the buzzards. Not sure that party would've ended in my favor." When none of them looked amused, he frowned and added, "Yeesh. Tough crowd."

"That's not funny," Piper scolded him. "Don't you get it? We thought you were _dead_, you idiot!" She poked him hard in the chest and said firmly, "Leo Valdez, don't you _ever_ scare us like that again."

"Noted," he said, blinking hazily. Piper bit her lip, not having meant to use charmspeak. But that wasn't to say she completely regretted it, of course. Maybe a little extra persuasion to take things easy was just what Leo needed.

With a glance over her shoulder, Piper realized that Festus's arrival hadn't gone unnoticed. People were jogging over from the cabins and the volleyball court or ducking out of the infirmary tent in interest. Leo greeted everybody with a smile and a wave, and not a single person was unexcited at his return.

After a few more hugs and assurances, Leo pointed a finger at Jason and Piper, who were standing hand-in-hand. "Hey," he said with a crooked grin, "you guys made up?"

"Yeah," Piper told him, smiling broadly. "Thanks to you."

"Me? What'd I do?"

Piper looked at Jason, who shrugged and said, "Died."

"Oh. Well, now I know what to do next time you two have a fight." Leo mimed stabbing himself in the stomach dramatically and Piper smacked him on the arm.

"You," a voice behind them suddenly growled harshly, and Piper turned around to see Reyna shove her way through the small crowd. Her eyes were wide and sharp, fixed on Leo like he was an insect she just couldn't manage to get rid of. "You're alive."

Leo's grin faltered and he paled visibly. "Barely," he admitted with a weak chuckle.

Reyna's fingers twitched at her sides and she stalked forward. Piper and Jason backed up unconsciously out of her way, both knowing the Roman praetor well enough not to stand between her and her destination. Leo took a step back and seemed to shrink a few inches as Reyna stormed up to him. In one fast, fluid motion, she raised her arm and smacked the back of her hand across his face, causing him to stumble backward and latch onto Festus's wing to keep from falling over. Piper winced sympathetically.

"Ow!" Leo complained, straightening up and looking at Reyna incredulously. "What the heck was that for?"

Reyna huffed and shook her head, looking annoyed. Then she stepped forward and grabbed the neck of Leo's shirt in both hands. Piper was about to intervene to keep her from strangling him, but that train of thought screeched to a full stop when Reyna yanked Leo toward her and kissed him.

Piper gasped and noticed Jason's mouth drop open beside her. Once she'd gotten over the initial surprise, though, she felt a very pleased grin spread across her face. She'd thought Reyna's reaction to Leo's supposed death had seemed particularly cold and unfeeling, even for her. But now, it made perfect sense—it wasn't that she didn't care; it was that she cared _too much_. And now that Leo was back, Piper couldn't help feeling excited for them both. She _was_ a daughter of the goddess of love, after all. She made a mental note to hound Leo for details on this little development later.

When Reyna pulled back, Leo stared at her, looking slightly dazed. "You know you're up for the Academy Award of mixed signals here, right?" he joked, the corners of his mouth twitching into a small smirk.

Reyna looked a little stunned herself, like she couldn't quite believe what had just happened. Then she did something Piper had hardly ever seen her do—she smiled. A genuine, happy, no-emotions-hidden _smile_. "What can I say?" she replied simply. "It's my best field."

Leo cracked a grin and laughed at the return joke, but his laugh broke into a pained yell almost right away. His face screwed up in discomfort and he doubled over, clutching a hand over his right side. Concern hardened Reyna's features and she placed a hand on his shoulder. She turned toward the nearest person—a Roman boy a few years younger than Piper who was staring at the praetor as though she'd just danced the Macarena—and said, "Get me some ambrosia. Now."

As the boy hurried off, Leo said in a strained voice that convinced no one, "I'm fine. No worries. I just need to…" His knees buckled and Jason rushed forward to grab him, swinging one of Leo's arms around his neck and helping Reyna support him. Piper suddenly wondered what they were doing standing around hugging and making jokes. Leo was covered in blood, for crying out loud.

Reyna seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Infirmary," she said over Leo's head to Jason, who was still regarding her with stunned silence. He nodded numbly as the crowd parted to give them room, and Piper followed after them without a second thought.

She'd already lost Leo once, and ecstatic as she was to have him back, she wasn't about to let him out of her sight again.

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><p><strong>Don't worry, that's not meant to be cliffhanger. He'll be fine.<strong>

**So, wanna know what the heck happened in Death Valley anyway? Think I'm gonna make it that easy and tell you right away? Guess we'll find out next chapter, POV switch and all, heh heh.**

**I'm off work Friday (and as you may know, I only really ever update when I'm at work 'cause I'm always doing other stuff at home), but hey how's this - if this chapter gets 18 reviews, enough to break 300, I'll find time to update Friday from home. If not, the next one'll be up Monday (I know not much happened this chapter, but you can still just drop me a line and tell me to update, right? haha).**

**Hope to hear from ya! Love you guys! Later days!**

**-oMM**


	43. XLIII Leo

**Hey, everybody! You did it! Thanks for all the reviews :D I almost forgot to put this up today 'cause I was busy, haha. But I did promise, so here it is!**

**Thanks again! Longer this time, too, though still sort of filler-y. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XLIII<br>LEO**

Leo quickly learned that there was nothing like returning from the assumed-dead to make a guy feel loved.

It was a little overwhelming, actually. During the two and a half hours he spent in bed at the infirmary, he had more visitors than people whose names he knew. What felt like the entire camp stopped by in shifts to make sure that he was really as alive as people were saying. All the attention didn't really bother him—on the contrary, it was kind of gratifying to know how glad everyone was that he wasn't dead. The problem, though, was that almost all of them wanted to know what had happened in Death Valley, and he was getting a little tired of recounting a story he only half-knew.

He should've died. Of that much, he was relatively certain. He remembered rigging Nyx's castle for demolition, and he remembered making no effort to get out before the collapse. He even vaguely remembered the explosion—he had never particularly wanted to know what it felt like to be buried under one-hundred-plus tons of stone and glass, and looking back it had felt exactly how you'd expect—painful. But only for a split second before everything had gone dark.

But by some stroke of incredible luck, he'd survived. He'd woken up some indiscernible amount of time later and fought his way free of the debris to find the palace in ruins and the valley deserted. He'd been sore and exhausted—which was to be expected—but decidedly alive. He'd found Festus hiding nearby and was glad to see him, though evidently not nearly as glad as the dragon was to see him. It had taken a considerable amount of time to calm the automaton down enough to get him into the air and set a course for New York. During the trip, his mind stayed stuck on one important question: how was he alive? Even if by some miracle the worst of the demolition had missed him, he'd lost way too much blood from where Nyx had stabbed him. But oddly, even that seemed to have healed a bit. It shouldn't have been humanly possible—which led him to believe that maybe it wasn't. His only idea was that somehow, someway, his father must have done something to help him. He must have given him some kind of protection, saved his life at the last second. It was the only thing that made any sense to him. He only hoped that at some point he'd have a chance to find Hephaestus and thank him.

Over the course of Leo's many visits, he learned what had happened at camp since he, Nico, and Reyna had first departed a few days ago, and aside from Nyx's defeat, none of it was good news. A warning from the Oracle, the death of a camper, a threat from Erebos, Percy disappearing—it was problem and worry after problem and worry. Not to mention the fact that the gods had yet to resurface and Hypnos was nowhere to be found. The entire camp was in a state of extremely high tension, like a balloon stretched so thin it could pop with the slightest prick. One more tragedy or disaster could send everyone into an uproar. Gods or no gods, Leo knew they were running out of time.

Since the medics wouldn't let him leave until they were absolutely certain he was in pristine condition, he spent the time he wasn't asking or answering questions on weighing their options and mapping out any and all possible courses of action. He was busy deciding how effective it would be to send a flock of low-explosive, kamikaze automaton birds to Mount Olympus when Piper, who had been forced by the medics to leave after bringing Leo into the tent and had yet to return, finally came striding into view, dragging Jason behind her.

Leo grinned unconsciously as they approached, glad to see his two best friends back on good terms. So he'd been right in assuming that Piper was the only one who could knock some sense into Jason. Part of him kind of wished he'd been there to see it.

"Hey, guys," he greeted them with a wave. "Done avoiding me? I promise I'm not a zombie. Haven't developed a taste for human brains quite yet."

Piper chuckled. "Sorry, we've been busy. Feeling better?"

"Almost good as new. Wish these guys would let me outta here, though. After a fourteen-hour flight all I really want is a little exercise." Piper smiled sympathetically and sat down on the edge of Leo's bed, but for some reason Jason hung back. He had a reluctant, pained sort of look on his face, which made Leo strangely uncomfortable. "What?" he asked him. "Is there a reason you're looking at me like I'm dying? I just told you I'm fine—"

"I'm sorry," Jason interrupted in a firm voice. "I'm sure you've noticed, but… I've been a jerk lately. I said some pretty messed up things to you the other day, and… now I kind of owe you a major apology."

Leo frowned, thinking back on the last time he and Jason had spoken. The day he'd left on the quest felt like so long ago, it took a minute for him to figure out what Jason was talking about. "Oh, that?" he said, flashing back to the brief argument they'd had at the mess hall. To be honest, with everything else going on, he'd completely forgotten about it. "Man, don't worry about it. I know you didn't mean what you said."

Piper shot Jason a look that clearly read _'I told you so'_ but he only shook his head and went on, "But that doesn't mean it was okay. When you didn't come back, and I thought you… Look, it doesn't matter, I guess. Just… I was outta line. Way outta line. You're my friend, Leo—forget what I said then. I just want you to know that in case, you know…"

A little surprised, Leo cracked a grin and arched an eyebrow. "Since when are you the mushy, sentimental type?" he said in a tone of feigned disbelief. Jason chuckled and rolled his eyes, seeming to relax. "I get it, okay? You were messed up. That being said… It's good to have you back."

With a relieved smile, Jason dropped onto the bed beside Piper. "Back at you. Did I mention how awesome it is that you're not dead? I still hadn't even gotten over the fact that you were gone when you just suddenly dropped out of the sky. Man, we haven't had a _good_ surprise like that in ages."

Leo laughed, suddenly feeling more content than he had in a long time. Something about having Jason back to normal made the war seem so much less terrible. His moment of relaxation was deflated somewhat, however, when Piper sat forward and said, "Speaking of surprises…" Eyes brightening, she reached over and swatted Leo on the shoulder. "How long have you and Reyna been a thing?"

Leo hesitated. "We're not a 'thing'," he argued. "Or, maybe we are—you know, I don't really know." He hadn't been sure what to expect from Reyna when he'd gotten back to camp earlier that evening. At first he'd been relieved that she was okay. Then, that scary look on her face when she saw him had basically terrified him half to death. Then she'd hit him, which was unexpected but maybe not undeserved now that he understood the situation. And then she'd rounded it off by kissing him, which was—to say the least—a very pleasant surprise. If only he hadn't gone and ruined it by almost passing out directly after. She hadn't been in to see him since.

Piper shook her head in exasperation. "So how'd it happen?" she prompted impatiently.

Thinking that she was getting a little too into this, Leo shrugged. With a light smirk, he replied, "I've told you, Piper, chicks just can't resist me."

Piper rolled her eyes as someone else interrupted, "Is that so?"

Leo flinched, groaning inwardly. He glanced to his right to see—naturally—Reyna standing a few feet away, arms folded in front of her chest and a dark eyebrow quirked in mild interest. The burn mark on her face was still visible and there were bandages wrapped around her neck; but aside from that, she looked considerably better than she had when she'd left Death Valley with Nico.

"Of course you're right there," Leo said wryly, glancing at the ceiling. "Why _wouldn't_ she be right there?" The corner of Reyna's mouth turned up in amusement and Leo raised his eyebrows a bit in tentative surprise, having expected an annoyed scowl.

Jason stood up suddenly. "Uh… You know, we've got that… thing to do, so… we're just gonna go," he said smoothly.

Piper frowned as he pulled her to her feet. "What thing? There's no 'thing'. I'm not missing—" She broke off at Jason's less-than-subtle look and sighed in defeat. "_Fine_. See you later, Leo. Reyna." She smiled brightly and arched her eyebrows, and Leo grimaced as his two friends hurried out of the tent.

Reyna stared after them and was quiet for a long minute. Leo felt like he should say something—like it was his move, in a way. He wracked his useless brain, trying to come up with the right words that wouldn't make him sound like an idiot, but before he could decide Reyna turned to him and said flatly, "I told you not to die."

Raising his arms, Leo pointed out, "I didn't."

She breathed out shortly as though frustrated. "But to us, you did. It's the same thing—we thought you were gone. We thought you weren't coming back. I thought I'd never see you again."

He didn't miss that abrupt switch from 'we' to 'I'. So she'd felt personally betrayed when he hadn't returned right away. That could only mean that despite the constantly-aloof appearance she tried to maintain, she'd missed him. Oddly, as this sank in, the nervousness started to fade away. What was there to be nervous about anymore? Leo leaned back against the pillows propped up behind him and tried not to smile. "You know, Your Highness," he said, "you volunteered to fight Nyx alone before I did. And if I remember correctly, _you_ almost died, too."

Reyna's eyes narrowed. "That isn't the point. I heard what happened after we left. You wanted to die, didn't you?"

"I didn't _want_ to," Leo insisted truthfully. With a twinge of guilt, though, he added, "But… I was _going_ to, I guess, yeah." Reyna lifted her chin a bit like he'd just justified her argument. He sighed in frustration, not willing to admit complete defeat. "Look, what's it matter now? I'm here, alive. You're here, alive. Who cares what could've happened?"

"I do," she argued. "Because if it could've happened once, it could happen again."

Leo felt a sudden wash of understanding. "You're worried about me," he realized.

She stiffened. "No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are. You don't want me to go off and get myself killed for real." He grinned in spite of the look on her face. "Aww, Reyna. I didn't know you cared." He wiped away a fake tear and she scowled.

"Whatever," she said flatly. "I'll leave you alone now."

As she turned around, Leo's grin vanished. "No, wait!" he called out. He leaned forward, reaching out an arm, but froze and hunched over with a grunt when pain shot across his right side where Nyx had stabbed him. It was healing relatively well, but it was still the only injury that continued to bother him. He glanced at the white bandages covering the lower half of his otherwise-bare torso and didn't see any fresh blood, which was a welcome relief. When he raised his head, Reyna was watching him with an apprehensive expression. One of her hands had risen a few inches and was resting midair.

"I'm sorry," Leo said seriously, taking a deep breath and wincing as the stinging in his stomach died down. "Look, it wasn't my original plan to go down with the ship. But she trapped me in the castle. I had two options: get out and give her time to break free, or bring the whole thing down on us both. What would you have done?"

She didn't answer, but she didn't need to. The look on her face told Leo clearly that she couldn't argue with that logic. She was quiet for a long minute, and her voice had lost almost all of its rigidity when she finally said, "It was brave. What you did. …But that doesn't mean I want you doing it again."

"See? I knew you were worried about me."

"I don't _worry_," Reyna said with a small hint of sharpness. Though again it didn't last. "…But I do care."

Leo smiled. "So do I."

"And you're right. I don't want you to go off and die again. It was bad enough once, especially since I hadn't told you… everything."

Noticing the spark of discomfort in her expression, he shook his head and suggested, "You don't have to—"

"Yes, I do," she insisted at once, some certainty returning to her tone. She stepped slowly forward and went on, "You and I… We lie. We lie to ourselves and we lie to others and we hide how we feel because we're afraid that it makes us look weak. But we do… feel. _I… _feel. I just… don't like to open myself up. It's like it makes me…"

She trailed off, looking troubled, and Leo finished heavily, "Vulnerable." He knew what she meant; he often felt the same way.

Her dark eyes lifted from the floor and met his. "But it's different with you," she said. "When I told you how I was angry and insecure about losing New Rome, you didn't look at me differently. You didn't patronize me like everyone else. You… yelled at me, told me I was wrong—that I was being selfish. People don't… do that, usually. It's like they're… afraid of me."

"They _are_ afraid of you," Leo pointed out. "Heck, I'm afraid of you, too. I just don't know when to keep my mouth shut. It's always been a bit of a problem."

"Yeah, I'm learning that," Reyna said with a small chuckle. Leo shifted sideways as she sat down on the bed beside him, staring at her hands for a few seconds. "You know, for once," she began again, "I don't want to hide how I feel. It's strange, but… you're the only one who makes me want to tell the truth."

"The truth?"

"Yeah. The truth that…" She twisted sideways and looked him right in the eye. "I like you. A lot. It doesn't make sense, but… I guess it doesn't have to. All I know is that I feel like you… understand me. And nobody else has ever done that."

It was a little amazing how a few simple words could take away all the pain and fear Leo had dealt with over the past few weeks. Suddenly, somehow, everything felt so much lighter. Just knowing that Reyna felt the same about him as he did about her made him feel like he'd just had a miraculous recovery. Surely, with his luck this presently high, he could do pretty much anything—even march up to Olympus and defeat Erebos singlehandedly. For some reason, things like that didn't seem so hard anymore.

Suppressing a smile and sighing shortly, Leo said ruefully, "Well, I don't know how I'm gonna top _that_ speech." He shrugged as Reyna rolled her eyes, a smile tugging at her lips. "Eh, I guess I don't have to. Done deal, right? Like I said, chicks just can't resist me."

She glanced at the ceiling, shaking her head. "I swear, I am gonna kill you someday," she threatened half-heartedly.

Wiggling his eyebrows, he countered, "Now is that any way to treat a new boyfriend?"

She blinked and met his eyes again with a vaguely questioning look, and for a heartbeat he felt his throat tighten in apprehension. The jibe had been his way of gauging her intentions, and it all weighed on her response.

So when she smiled and admitted, "No, I guess not," he grinned in relief, reached a hand around the back of her neck, and pulled her mouth against his own. This was the first kiss that they were both fully aware of and ready for ahead of time, and felt better and more right than all the others combined. As Reyna's arms slid over Leo's bare shoulders, he wasn't sure if the heat rising in his skin was due to a lapse in focus on his power over fire or something else entirely. It may have actually been a combination of both, because when they separated a minute later and Reyna breathed out slowly, there was smoke on her breath.

"I feel like I just swallowed a mouthful of jalapeño juice," she muttered, fanning her mouth and sounding a little winded.

Leo laughed. "Guess I'm too hot for my own good." He did feel a little bad, but in actuality Reyna didn't really seem to mind.

"You're lucky I like spicy food," she said wryly.

"Um… Sorry to interrupt," someone cut in. Reyna twisted sideways and Leo leaned around her to see Hazel standing a few paces away, a very insistent blush on her face and neck. Leo suppressed a grin when he thought back on the last time she'd 'interrupted' them, the night at the Cloud Nine hotel. Now, looking back, that whole situation seemed rather hilarious.

"What is it?" Reyna asked in a business-like tone, rising to her feet and frowning at the look of reluctant urgency on Hazel's face.

"Clovis has called a council meeting."

"Clovis?" Leo repeated, raising his eyebrows. "You mean he woke up long enough to get the words out?"

"He says it's important," Hazel reported. "Something to do with the gods. Leo, I know you're still recovering, but I was asked to bring Reyna—"

"Oh, no way I'm missing this," Leo argued, throwing back the loose blanket covering him and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"Are you sure?" Reyna asked skeptically, watching him with critical eyes as he grabbed the clean, white T-shirt on the table beside him and yanked it on over his head, ignoring the painful pull on the stab wound in his side.

"I'm done sitting around here feeling useless," he said firmly. "If something's going down, I want in on it." Pulling on his shoes and standing up, Leo suddenly thought forlornly of his magic tool belt, which he'd somehow lost in the building collapse in Death Valley. Not that he should need it for a council meeting, but it just wasn't right not having it. He felt uncomfortably exposed without it.

But that was a problem for another time. Shaking himself off, Leo shot a grin at Reyna and Hazel. "So what are we waiting for? I'm dying to know what's got Captain Naptime up and about."

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><p><strong>As is my nature, of course I'm not telling you everything right away. What fun would that be? Heh heh. Don't worry, though, you'll find out soon enough.<strong>

**Alrighty, things are about to get moving, as you can imagine. Update will be sometime next week. More reviews mean I'll put it up faster!**

**Later days, gang!**

**-oMM**


	44. XLIV Leo

**Yo :) Thanks as always for the reviews. Got another short chapter, but this is pretty much where the super short ones end. After this is when things really pick up, so the chapters get a lot longer.**

**Thanks for reading! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XLIV<br>LEO**

They grabbed Will Solace and Katie Gardner on their way out of the infirmary and were at the Big House in minutes. All the usual council members who weren't incapacitated by injury were busy filing into the rec room, and the place seemed particularly crowded. Though, this could have been due to the increased nervous energy in the camp. No matter where you went, the unspoken tension tended to be so thick you could almost see it.

Leo dropped into his usual armchair to the right of the door. Reyna sat on the arm of the same chair, crossing her arms and frowning around at the room as though waiting for someone to explain what was going on. Hazel moved to sit next to Frank, who was in a metal folding chair beside Jason and Piper, and once everyone had piled in and made themselves relatively comfortable, Chiron, who was in his wheelchair at the front of the room as per usual, raised his hands to signal quiet. When the chatter died down, he nodded wordlessly to Clovis, who stepped away from the wall against which he was leaning.

"Thanks, everybody, for coming," Clovis addressed them all. "I know we've all been busy lately. But the thing is, I've got some news that might change the way we're doing things. Y'see, I… I got a message from my father."

Immediately a chorus of whispering swept through the rec room. Clovis's father was Hypnos, the missing god of sleep. A message from him at this point could be crucial, a fact of which everyone was fully aware.

"It was a dream," Clovis explained, stifling a yawn. "Kind of choppy and confusing—I think he had a hard time reaching me. He couldn't say much, but… he was able to get through enough." He took a heavy breath, golden eyes surveying everyone seriously. "I found out where he is. Erebos has him trapped in the throne room on Mount Olympus. And the gods are still asleep."

The resulting outburst was immediate. Fifteen people started talking at once, exclaiming about their rotten luck or proclaiming their doom or voicing what they thought they should do next. Leo felt his stomach drop in dread. After all the trouble they'd gone to in order to free Hypnos from Nyx's clutches, it still hadn't been enough. Nyx was defeated, sure. But they were hardly any closer to freeing the gods and beating Erebos.

"Calm down, please," Chiron raised his voice over the noise. He spoke firmly, but he looked just as troubled by this news as everyone else. "At least we now know where Hypnos is, if nothing else. There may be a way we can free him."

"He said something about that," Clovis added with a frown. "He said that… he was 'locked again in fire'. I don't know what that means, but—"

"We do," Leo interrupted, exchanging a significant glance with Nico across the room.

"Nightflame," Nico agreed with a nod. "Dark fire that blocks and consumes immortal energy. It's how Nyx had Hypnos imprisoned in Death Valley. Erebos must be able to control it, too."

"So, what, we just dump a bucket of water on him?" Connor Stoll suggested.

Nico shook his head. "According to Hypnos, the only ways to snuff out Nightflame are to get the one who conjured it to extinguish it, or cleanse it with immortal light fire."

"Immortal light fire?" Frank repeated, and Nico nodded at Leo. As all eyes turned toward him, Leo grinned and waved, letting a tiny tongue of flame spring to life on his hand and dance around his fingers.

"Yet another reason it's great to have you back," Jason said appreciatively.

"So what should we do?" Thalia Grace asked the room. "Send an infiltration team to sneak into Olympus and find Hypnos?"

"I don't think sneaking in is gonna be an option," Leo pointed out. "That place is heavily guarded under normal circumstances, when they're on our side. With Erebos running the place, you can bet it's Monster City up there. Besides, if we send a small team and Erebos finds 'em, they're toast."

"Well, what do you think we should do, storm Olympus?" Thalia countered sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Actually," Leo said, "that's exactly what I think we should do."

"What?" Piper said as more than one person blinked in surprise.

"Think about it," Leo explained, leaning forward to the edge of his chair. "We know where Hypnos is. We know how to free the gods. But we also know that Erebos is bound to be keeping a close eye on Hypnos after what happened to Nyx. He's not just gonna let us waltz right into the throne room. We need to bust in. And for that, it's gonna take all we've got. Not to mention the fact that it'll be much easier to find and free Hypnos in the confusion of a major battle."

Leo had been over every possible plan of action in his head while he waited in the infirmary that evening. With their new information, he knew this was the best plan. No action they could take would be completely risk-free, but in his mind the direct approach had the highest chance of success.

"Plus," he added, considering another important goal he'd been puzzling over, "Percy's up there somewhere, isn't he? If we can find him and break him out too, all the better." When Annabeth had told him about her boyfriend's sacrifice, she'd been adamant that he was still alive and they had to rescue him. And while logic tried to tell Leo that that was highly unlikely, he chose to ignore it in favor of the fact that he strongly wanted Annabeth to be right. He wouldn't believe that his friend was dead until they knew for absolutely certain. The more people broke into Olympus with them, the better their chances would be of finding the missing son of Poseidon and hopefully saving his life.

"Come on, guys," Leo went on, looking around the room. "We've been biding our time and preparing for battle for long enough. I'm done with Erebos's threats. It's time we take the fight to him."

"A frontal assault, huh?" Reyna mused with a small smirk. "I like this plan."

Leo grinned at her. "Somehow, I knew you would."

"I'm in, too," Annabeth spoke up. "I'm tired of waiting around for Erebos to finish us off."

The agreement of two of the camp's best strategists seemed to slowly draw everyone else around. Mutters of approval and tentative smiles came from every direction, and soon enough there was a buzz of excitement in the air.

"It seems like we have a decision," Chiron said after a minute or so. "I'm going to ask each of you to relay the message to your cabins and Cohorts."

"What should we tell them?" Katie Gardner asked.

"The truth," was Chiron's reply. "In one hour's time, we march on Mount Olympus. We'll fight our way to the palace throne room and free the gods from sleep. And together, we'll challenge the King of Darkness."

A ripple of tension washed over the room at the prospect of taking on Erebos. Leo could already feel adrenaline rushing in his veins. He'd fought the Queen of Night and freed Hypnos once. Now all that was left was to face Erebos and do it again. He was ready for this to be over.

"One way or another," Chiron said with grim finality, "the Shadow War ends tonight."

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><p><strong>Woo-hoo! Excited? I sure am, haha. Though we're starting to catch up to where I'm at writing-wise... These last few chapters are taking me a long time because they're very eventful and I want to make sure I do this story justice by giving it a worthy final stretch. I'll get the next chapter up this week for sure since it's like the beginning of the end, but once the action starts my updates may slow down a little until I finish writing it. Trust me, though, the chapters will be better so the wait won't be as disappointing as lately. Promise!<strong>

**Thanks as usual, guys! Later days!**

**-oMM**


	45. XLV Leo

**Hey, gang! Welcome to the start of the final battle, the longest chapter so-far posted and second-longest so-far written. And, I think, my favorite chapter I've written for this story so far. It's a really fun balance between tension and action. I think (hope) you guys are gonna like it :D**

**Thanks for the reviews, as always! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XLV<br>LEO**

The tension at camp that night was higher than ever. After the council meeting, everyone spent the next hour rounding up volunteers and preparing for battle. Nearly everyone who wasn't injured—and even a few people who were—signed on to join the assault. They'd sent a message to Percy's half-brother Tyson and the other Cyclopes in Poseidon's undersea forges for help as well, though without the use of Iris-messaging they didn't know for sure if it would reach them in time. The equipment sheds were nearly emptied of weapons and armor as people outfitted themselves appropriately. The members of the Hecate cabin, along with a faction of mostly-Roman warriors led by Octavian, were chosen to stay behind and defend the camp in case of an attack, given that many members were too young, too old, or not in proper health to participate in the battle.

Leo's cabin mates had finished re-routing the electricity to Long Island Sound so the camp would have plenty of light over all important areas, with a few fighters appointed to guard the main power control relay. Obviously the general intention was to keep Erebos and his army far away from Camp Half-Blood, but there was always a chance things wouldn't go completely as planned. After all, Leo had realized long ago that things hardly _ever_ went completely as planned.

When the time came, a third of their army piled into the camp's _Delphi Strawberry Service_ vans while another third headed to the pegasus stables and the remainder—which included Thalia and her hunters and Grover and the other satyrs—prepared for the long trek into Manhattan on foot. Leo watched them with a twisting feeling in his gut, an uncomfortable mix of anticipation and nervousness. Everyone was so quiet and serious that the whole ordeal felt like a massive funeral. Unnerved, he shook off the thought of that discomforting comparison and turned to look up at Festus, who was tilting his mechanical head back and forth as though stretching.

"I know I told you you'd get some down time," he said to him, resting a hand on the automaton's side. "But we're heading into overtime and I'm gonna need you on the field a little longer." Festus opened his hinged jaws and released a series of quick, snapping clicks that Leo understood as _Alright, but you'd better make it up to me._ "Don't worry, I will," he promised. "How does a lifetime supply of gourmet thirty-weight sound?" Festus gave more mechanical whirring noises in answer, tilting his head back in excitement of more motor oil than he could drink. Leo grinned. "Sure, buddy. As much Tabasco sauce as you want." Festus released a long, low screech in agreement and Leo patted him on the neck. With his other hand he tugged absently on the hem of his T-shirt, missing his tool belt. He'd grabbed an iron and bronze war hammer from the armory and strapped it to his belt, but it was hardly the same. What if he needed to whip up another explosive? Or a spark plug? Or a taser? What if he had to pick a lock or repair something? He felt wholly unprepared and vulnerable without that tool belt, and though he tried to reassure himself that he wasn't going in alone and, more importantly, he always had his fire, he was still considerably more anxious than he probably should've been.

"Guess this is it," a voice behind Leo said solemnly and he turned to see Reyna standing there, staring at the armed kids preparing to depart.

"Yeah," he agreed, following her gaze and shaking himself out of his thoughts. "I guess so."

Turning her eyes on him, Reyna said authoritatively, "Don't die."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Is that how we say goodbye now?" he asked, flashing back to Nyx's castle. Reyna shrugged as if to say _Looks that way_. Leo chuckled and finished appropriately, "You either." She stepped forward with a small smile and twisted her hand in the collar of his shirt, pulling him into a brief kiss that inexplicably helped lessen his anxiety a little. Then she hefted her shield and turned away, calling orders to her soldiers as she jogged off toward the stables.

"Man, you've got no idea how weird it is to see you and her together," Jason said with a grimace as he, Annabeth, and Nico approached, all adorned with weapons and battle armor. The four of them would be riding in on Festus and leading the main assault.

Leo grinned. "Better get used to it, dude. You guys ready to hit it?"

"Ready as we'll ever be," Nico said gravely.

Annabeth added, "Let's go." The four of them climbed into the empty seats on Festus's back and the dragon stood, stepping around on its heavy legs to face the caravan just as the last few car doors slid closed.

Chiron, who had his bow and quiver slung across his back and would be guiding the group traveling on foot, trotted up to them. "Stay with the vans," he told them. "Help provide them cover from above. We want as many to make it to Olympus as possible." He hesitated, shooting a glance over his shoulder. "We may not meet again until after the battle. All of you, be careful. And good luck. I've got a feeling you'll need it."

"Aye-aye, captain," Leo said with a grin and a salute. Chiron gave a grim smile and headed back to his battalion as the drivers of the vans started their engines in a drumming chorus. Leo looked behind him at the others and said, "Go time," before signaling Festus to take off.

With a great, thundering _creak_ Festus spread his metal wings and rocketed skyward, circling above the camp as the vans rumbled into motion. The dragon glided at a leisurely pace away from the camp, staying low enough for Leo and the others to keep an eye on the camp vans as they set off down Farm Road 3.141. None of the four on the automaton's back spoke; there wasn't really much to say. Everything they'd been through over the past six weeks had all led up to this night. As if in vigil, even the darkness around them was still and silent—like the calm before a storm. Fitting, considering what they were about to do.

But like all peace in their lives, the quiet didn't last long.

The first disturbance came roughly ten miles into the trip when the lead van made the mistake of driving straight into a nest of giant spiders, all of which swarmed immediately upon the intrusion. A few of the vans screeched to a halt while others altered their courses to avoid confrontation—their orders were to make straight for Olympus as quickly as possible. The more they dawdled, the more likely it would be that Erebos would be alerted of their approach (assuming he didn't already have eyes everywhere).

"We should help them," Leo called to the people behind him, looking down at the two vans that were now emptying as their occupants engaged the nest of arachnids. He should've been able to spot the nest beforehand; it was the whole reason they were taking Festus in the first place. They would have to fly lower from now on.

"Chiron told us to stay with the vanguard," Annabeth argued in a small voice, and Leo turned to see her staring down at the ground with obvious trepidation. He understood why—seeing your greatest fear magnified to the size of a rhinoceros and multiplied by fifty couldn't have been very inviting.

"You're both right," Jason said from behind Annabeth. "Leo, keep going. I've got this." Leo nodded, trusting the serious expression on Jason's face, and spun around, signaling Festus to follow the remaining vans. As the dragon veered off, Jason raised an arm and spread his hand, gritting his teeth. The air around them seemed to spark with static electricity before a white-hot bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky into the spiders' nest, splitting against the ground and arcing through the monsters, reducing over half of them to dust in one fell swoop. Some of the campers below were thrown off their feet by the force of the strike, but none of them were hit.

"Nice one," Leo yelled back to Jason over the sound of the wind as Festus sped up to rejoin the front of the vanguard. The campers who'd stopped should have no trouble exterminating the remainder of the spiders and would presumably be following shortly.

The next time they came across a monster opposition, Leo and the others were ready. They spotted the group of—were those giant lizard monsters? Okay, sure. They spotted the group of giant lizard monsters from above and Leo immediately had Festus angle downward to head off the camp vans. Once in range, the dragon opened his jaws and loosed a powerful stream of bright blue fire into the dozen or so reptiles, and they scrambled and hissed as they were melted to dust in a matter of seconds. Festus roared in satisfaction and flapped his wings, soaring upward and tilting sideways so that Jason, Annabeth, and Nico all shouted in alarm as they grabbed onto their seats to keep from sliding from the automaton's back.

The head of the team reached Manhattan without much more delay (barring a few more small skirmishes) and in what felt like no time at all Festus had dropped down to the ground in front of the Empire State Building, startling a pair of dracaena guards who foolishly decided to make a stand. They were fried by dual bolts of lightning before Jason had fully dismounted the dragon.

"We're here," Leo said unnecessarily, heart starting to pound as he stared up at the skyscraper and the invisible city that lay waiting above the clouds. No one answered as the reality of the situation finally, fully sunk in. They were standing in front of Erebos's stronghold, about to break through and challenge the god himself. Leo knew he'd been the one to suggest this plan. But now he was wondering just what he'd been thinking. Were they really ready for this?

They wouldn't have much time to think about it, though. The vans would be arriving any minute, as well as the pegasus riders, assuming the latter hadn't run into any trouble. Soon there'd be no turning back.

Not that anyone was really considering it, of course.

"Our being here isn't gonna go unnoticed," Annabeth said seriously, eyes on the monument's front doors.

"So let's get noticed," Leo suggested. "Are we the advance guard or aren't we? How 'bout we go in and swipe us a keycard? I'm sure they'll hand one over if we ask nicely."

Nico drew his sword. "Or if we ask less-than-nicely."

"Either way works for me," Jason added, producing his own weapon and flipping it in his hand. He stepped forward without hesitation and led the way up to the Empire State Building's main entrance, pulling open the doors with the other three on his heels.

Annabeth had been right—their presence hadn't gone unnoticed. It was more than clear that the group of guards inside were expecting them, as they were greeted instantly by a total of ten glaring monster eyes.

"Uh… hi," Leo said, waving at the four Laistrygonian giants and two Cyclopes gathered in the lobby. "You guys must be the welcoming committee. Any chance of skipping the first few legs of the tour and taking us up to see the big guy?" He took a casual step toward the elevator and one of the giants roared angrily and came to bar his path, swinging both fists up in preparation to squash Leo like a bug. He didn't need to bother dodging, though, because half a second later the black blade of a sword impaled the monster from the side and sliced through him, prompting him to disintegrate with another howl.

As Leo sighed and shook his head in mock sympathy, Nico wiped the dust from his sword and said, "Less-than-nicely it is."

That was when the rest of the partygoers struck. They must have realized that attacking one at a time was incredibly stupid, because they charged the small team of demigods all at once. Leo saw Jason block the blade of an axe with his sword and Annabeth spin out of reach of a pair of fists before a rusty crowbar was swung at his head and he had to throw himself to the ground to avoid being brained. He scrambled backward and rolled to the side as the giant aimed the crowbar at him again. It slammed into the marble floor with a resounding _clang_, cracking the polished surface.

Leo sprang back to his feet and thrust out both arms instinctively, throwing a blast of fire that collided with the giant's shoulder and caused him to stumble to the side, arms flailing. He growled and barreled toward Leo, waving the crowbar back and forth like he was practicing his baseball swing. Leo ducked and hurled another blast at the monster's legs, tripping him up. As he staggered, he twisted sideways, crowbar slicing wildly through the air. Reflexively, Leo threw up both arms, grabbing the metal as it slammed against his shoulder and pushed him sideways, his feet sliding across the floor from the force. He steadied himself and gripped the end of the crowbar, eyes going to the tool as an idea struck him. He looked up at the giant and smirked, calling a thin coat of flames on his hands and arms and focusing his energy to heat them beyond normal levels. The metal grew warm under his fingers—which meant that were anyone else to touch it, it would be searing hot. As expected, the giant yelled in pain and let go of the now-glowing-red weapon, allowing Leo to pull it out of his reach.

"Hey, thanks, bro," he said smartly. "I could use this." With that, he spun around to gain momentum and swung the crowbar at the monster, the burning metal slicing cleanly through his neck and turning his body to dust.

A shout of surprise drew Leo's attention and he turned to see a Cyclops swing Jason over his head by the leg and heave him against the floor, smashing the marble. Flinching in alarm, Leo ran forward a few steps and drew back his arm before hurling the red-hot crowbar he'd stolen across the lobby like a glowing javelin. It jammed the Cyclops in the eye with a sickening _squish_ and the monster reeled backward, howling in pain and clutching his head in both hands.

"My eye!" the monster roared. "Argh! I'll get you, whoever you are!" He lowered his hands and stretched both arms out in front of him, grabbing blindly at empty air. He looked more than a little ridiculous, blundering around with a crowbar sticking out of his overlarge eyeball, and had his friends not been within snatching distance Leo might have laughed. As it was, the blind Cyclops stumbled sideways and, being unable to see who or what he was aiming at, winded up smacking Nico, who had just leapt aside to dodge the giant swinging a club at him, hard in the back of the head and throwing him off his feet.

"Ha!" the Cyclops shouted, evidently convinced he'd just caught the perpetrator. "That will teach you!"

"Try again, ugly!" Leo called to the monster as Nico rolled over, grumbling angrily. "Actually, better not. You might hurt yourself." The Cyclops growled and lunged in Leo's direction, but he was still too far out of reach. He raised both hands and threw a column of fire toward the Cyclops. It slammed him in the chest and bowled him over, and he fell to the floor as a pile of charred dust. Leo jogged forward and held a hand down to Jason, who was pulling himself into a sitting position and blinking dazedly. "Hey, you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, more or less," Jason answered, taking Leo's arm and allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. He winced and rolled his shoulders. "Heck of a backache, though."

Glancing around, Leo noticed that another of the giants had already been dispatched as well, leaving only two monsters remaining. Annabeth was now fighting the axe-wielding Cyclops, dodging in and out of the blade while sticking the monster repeatedly with her knife. Nico was back on his feet and glaring at the final Laistrygonian giant as though it had been responsible for the blind Cyclops's surprise attack on him. It was clear, though, that neither of them needed any help, as within seconds Annabeth had leapt a swing of the axe and buried her knife in the Cyclops's neck, and Nico had driven his sword through the chest of the giant.

"Well, that was fun," Leo said, dodging around Jason and vaulting over the welcome desk. He rummaged around in the shelved sections beneath it until he found a small stack of red keycards. He grabbed one and stood straight, holding it up between two fingers and grinning at the others. "Going up?"

Just then, the front doors opened, announcing the arrival of a faction of their army. Leading the way was Clarisse La Rue, decked out in crimson armor and brandishing a seven-foot spear that sparked with electricity. She frowned down at the piles of monster dust that coated the lobby. "What happened here?" she asked in her usual snarky tone.

"A friendly game of tag, what does it look like?" Leo replied, prompting her to glare at him. Man, that girl had no sense of humor.

"Are you guys okay?" Hazel asked as she and Frank pushed through the small crowd, both armed and armored.

"We're fine," Annabeth replied, "but we'd better hurry. Look." Leo followed her gaze to see that the monster dust on the floor was beginning to shift as though blown about by a breeze. He cringed; they were starting to reform already? They really had to free the gods as soon as possible. Without Thanatos on their side, this battle would never end.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Clarisse said. "Let's get up there and get this thing started."

Leo jumped back over the welcome desk and led the way to the elevator. Once they'd crammed as many people as they could inside, he slid the keycard into the slot and a red button labeled 600 appeared at the top of the floor panel. He jammed the button and the doors slid closed. A few minutes of tense silence later, they opened once again to reveal a narrow walkway made of stone that stretched through the empty, night air above the ground hundreds of feet below. Annabeth was the first one out of the elevator; she strode purposefully across the walkway toward the wide, marble staircase that rose from the stone landing at its end, leading up into the mountainside city of Olympus.

Once they'd gathered at the base of the staircase, Annabeth turned to the group and said, "We should split up. We need to divide Erebos's attention throughout the city, keep him from focusing completely on the people approaching the palace. Clarisse, think you can cause an uproar to help distract him?"

Clarisse hefted her spear. "You might as well ask me to breathe."

Annabeth nodded. "Good. I'm sure Erebos has more monsters throughout the city, along with who-knows-what else. Be careful."

"Think who you're talking to, Chase," Clarisse replied shortly with a small smirk. Then to her cabin mates behind her she said, "Alright, time to wreak some havoc! Let's smash this king's army to the ground!" A bunch of people shouted in assent and as one the members of the Ares cabin started running up the stairs, branching off into the city and making no effort to keep quiet.

By then the elevator had returned with another group of campers, this one consisting mostly of Hermes and Apollo kids, including their counselors. "Connor," Annabeth addressed the Hermes cabin leader at once, wasting no time. "How many from your cabin are here?"

"Um…" Connor muttered as he spun around and stood on tiptoe, glancing over the people behind him. "Fifteen, including me."

"Alright, Clarisse has got the lower east side of the city. You guys take the lower west. Our goal is to distract Erebos, but whatever opposition you can take out along the way would be great."

"We're on it, Annabeth," Connor promised, not questioning the fact that Annabeth was giving orders. He signaled to his cabin mates and charged up the stairs without any further discussion.

Annabeth then turned to Will Solace. "You and your archers spread out," she told him. "Help out where it's needed. Keep an eye out in case anyone gets hurt."

As Will nodded and followed her instructions, Leo asked Annabeth, "So did you plan all this ahead of time or do you just make it up as you go?"

She shot him a pointed look as if to say, _I'm a daughter of Athena. What do you think?_ Letting that be her answer, she instead addressed Frank and Hazel. "Can one of you two stay here and relay the plan to the rest of the team? We need to get moving before Erebos comes after us."

"I will," Hazel volunteered. Turning to Frank, she said, "Go with them. They'll need you."

Frank nodded, squeezing Hazel's hand. "Be careful," he said seriously.

She stood on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. "You too."

"Alright," Annabeth said grimly. "Let's go." And with that, the five of them started up the marble staircase and plunged into the city of Olympus.

Leo had been to Olympus only once before, the previous summer after the end of the Giant War. It was just as crazy and overwhelming now as it had been then, though that wasn't to say it was the same. Darkness swirled so thickly it was almost like a fog, something you could touch and feel. The city felt dead and empty, quieter than it should have, and the air buzzed with a strange, cold energy that gave a sort of haunting feel. Walking through it felt almost like one of those ghost hunter shows on TV; Leo half-expected ordinary objects to start flying at them out of nowhere, or to hear disembodied thumping or wailing.

Their trek to the palace of the gods didn't go as smoothly as hoped, but the monsters they came across were nothing the five of them couldn't handle. It became clear that the city's new occupants had busied themselves lately with destroying every inch of Olympus that they could get their hands and claws on, as all around buildings and structures were in ruins, plants and trees were torn up, and stone walkways were cracked and broken. It looked like a massive earthquake had struck. Leo had a fleeting vision of what some of the gods would do when they found their city in this state and cringed, expecting something along the lines of a volcanic eruption.

They were just over halfway to the top of the mountain when the dark clouds hovering over the ground started shifting all at once to the southwest, as though someone had lassoed them and was reining them in. Leo exchanged a puzzled look with Jason, until Nico spoke up and said, "That's probably Erebos. He must have gone down into the city and the shadows are being drawn to him."

"So he's not in the throne room?" Frank said with a frown.

"Sounds like the perfect break-in opportunity to me," Leo pointed out, a little reluctant to believe their luck. If Erebos really had gone to see what the commotion in the city was, then presumably that left the throne room—and Hypnos—wide open.

They hurried higher up the mountain until they reached the huge castle at its peak. The palace was normally white with glittering rings of gold and silver. But under Erebos's rule, the marble was dark—not black, but cast in a deeper, heavier shadow than the rest of the city so that the whole building looked two-dimensional. They dashed up the stone steps and across the courtyard, slicing through the unsuspecting monster guards, and were at the giant entrance doors in no time.

Jason stepped forward and pushed against the left door, shoving it open just enough for them all to fit through. He leaned his head slowly through the opening and muttered blankly, "Whoa."

'Whoa' was right. When Leo made it into the throne room, his eyes landed instantly on the forms of the thirteen major Olympian gods, all of whom were curled up in or lounged across their gigantic thrones, fast asleep. It shouldn't have been an unexpected sight; but still, there was something about seeing their immortal parents so trapped and defenseless that just didn't seem right. Leo couldn't help glancing at his father, snoring on his mechanical throne, and thinking of the dream in which he'd heard the god's voice. The Nightflame burning in torches along the columned walls threw blue shadows on the floor and gave Leo a flashing vision of Nyx, but he was no longer afraid. His fire was stronger than hers, and he never would have believed that if it hadn't been for his father. Now he had to free Hephaestus and the other gods and set everything right in return.

"Percy!" Annabeth cried as soon as she'd stepped in behind Frank. She shoved past Leo and Jason and bolted toward the center of the room, where an enormous, obsidian throne with jagged spires had been erected. And sure enough, at the foot of Erebos's empty throne was the missing son of Poseidon.

As Annabeth slid to her knees beside her boyfriend, Leo felt a lump rise in his throat. At first, it looked like Percy was dead—he was sitting on the floor leaning back against the throne, his head hanging low against his chest. But then Leo realized he was breathing, which meant that he was still alive, and didn't look injured—though still worrisome were the smoking swirls of darkness that wrapped tightly around his wrists and bound him to the glass throne.

"Percy," Annabeth repeated insistently. She grabbed Percy's shoulders and shook him, trying to wake him up. "Percy!"

"Where's Hypnos?" Jason wondered aloud, glancing around the room. Leo followed his lead until Nico answered, "There!" When Leo turned to look, his eyes widened. The god of sleep was there, alright—trapped in a clear-walled prison and ensnared in ropes burning with Nightflame.

"This had better work," Leo said anxiously. He took a step toward Hypnos but stopped and spun around when Percy let out a low groan and Annabeth breathed, "Oh, thank the gods."

With what looked like a huge amount of effort, Percy raised his head and squinted at his girlfriend. "Annabeth?" he said hoarsely. "What… What are you doing here?" His eyes seemed to clear as they widened. "You're not supposed to be here."

"Shut it, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said in a tired voice. "We're getting you out of here and waking the gods before Erebos gets back. How do we—?"

"No, you don't get it," Percy interrupted her, shaking his head and drawing away from her attempt to reach toward him. "Him and me—Look, he knows! He knows you're here! I can feel him, he's—" His voice broke into a strangled yell and he jerked forward, doubling over with a pained grimace.

Annabeth flinched in alarm, eyes wide. "Percy—What—?"

"_He's coming back!_"

_Uh-oh_, Leo thought with a wash of dread as Annabeth gasped and the others flinched in alarm. They had to free Hypnos, no matter what. Clenching both hands into fists Leo turned and dashed toward the god of sleep's prison, planning to break through that container with whatever was necessary. He drew both hands backward in preparation, but just as the fire began to flicker to life a huge, dark shadow grew out of the ground in front of him, barring his path. He skidded to a stop as a pale, long-fingered hand wearing a pointed black ring reached out of the darkness, and an invisible wall of energy slammed into Leo with what felt like all the force of a speeding car. He was thrown backward with a pained yell and heaved against the marble floor.

"Well, well, well," a low, whispery voice said coldly as a tense silence fell in the throne room. Leo rolled onto his stomach and held back a groan as he pushed himself up on his arms, raising his head to see exactly the sight he'd been expecting and fearing: a tall, light-skinned man in a black tuxedo and a sharp, obsidian crown stepping slowly toward him, watching him with eyeless sockets filled with dark, smoking shadows.

Erebos smiled. "You're the demigod who defeated my dear sister," he said, a dark eyebrow arching.

"Bit wordy for an official title," Leo replied, struggling to his feet and feeling like he'd just body-slammed a brick wall. "I prefer Leo."

"Leo…" another voice repeated, and Leo looked to his right to see Percy standing up and staring at him in shock. "You're… You're alive?" Leo grinned at him and was glad when his friend gave a weak laugh, a brief flash of relief on his face.

"Not so easy to kill, I see," Erebos noted.

"Yeah, I'm like a cockroach that way." Leo hesitated, replaying what he just said in his mind. "Wait, that didn't come out right. Let me try again."

"No, I think you got it right the first time," Nico said. Leo gave him a pointed look.

"_Enough_," Erebos interrupted, eliciting another thick silence. "It's amusing that you children thought you could sneak in here and perform some strong and noble act of heroism toward your pathetic parents. But this charade can only go on for so long."

Leo was only half-listening to the god's ego trip. Erebos was standing between him and Hypnos, but with just a few steps' movement, by either one of them, he'd have a clear shot. There had to be some way to get around him without starting a fight they couldn't win.

"…I suppose all I can do is show you how pointless it is to oppose my rule." Erebos lifted a hand and darkness swirled between his fingers. His eyeless sockets watched it in interest.

"Wait!" Percy argued with him. "You said you wouldn't kill them—right, that was the whole point of our deal."

Erebos's mouth twitched in a miniscule smirk. "Unfortunately for your friends, the deal isn't finished yet."

"Then finish it!" Percy shot back, glaring at the god. He stepped forward, but the shadowy binds on his wrists held him back. "The day's over, right? Just kill me and let them go!"

"What?" Jason stammered in surprise as Annabeth's eyes snapped sharply onto her boyfriend at those words.

But Erebos shook his head. "The black moon is not yet mature. The time hasn't come. Your friends interfered with my plans, and for that they will not walk free. And what's more, I have you. The 'deal' is null and void." Percy yelled angrily and yanked on his binds, hateful eyes fixed on the King of Darkness. Erebos took a deep, slow breath and his smile widened. It may have been Leo's imagination, but the room's shadows seemed to seep closer and cling to the god's clothes. "Yes," Erebos mused. "Revel in that darkness. Allow it to consume you. When the time comes, it will make stealing your power for my own all the easier." He took a few slow steps toward his throne—giving Leo a perfect view of the trapped god of sleep behind him. Before he could act, though, Erebos turned his head and looked right at Leo, saying, "But first, I'll have to deal with you demigods. You buried my sister. Now I will bury _you_."

He raised his hands and Leo took a step back, wracking his brain for a way to divert the god's attention. He just needed a few seconds. Completely out of ideas, he turned quickly toward the far side of the throne room and pointed a finger, putting on a surprised expression.

"Look, a distraction!" he shouted, and miraculously _everyone_ looked—including Erebos.

Seizing the chance, Leo bolted past the King of Darkness and hurled a blast of white-hot fire at the glass wall separating him from Hypnos, melting a gaping hole through it. He heard Erebos growl in anger behind him and shot a blind stream of flames over his shoulder in weak defense as he leapt through the hole and into Hypnos's prison. The god of sleep nodded at him, golden eyes wide with urgency above the fiery rope covering his mouth and pinning his arms to his sides. Leo reached out and grabbed a section of the rope, then lit his hands on fire just as a heavy force rammed him in the back, shoving him against Hypnos and bowling them both to the ground. Leo grimaced and rolled over just in time to see Hypnos—now free of the Nightflame—lock eyes with him and vanish in a flash of light.

"_No!_" Erebos roared, and Leo twisted around on the ground to see the King of Darkness approaching him with a snarl on his face. The god thrust out an arm and a stream of shadow shot from his fingers and wrapped itself around Leo's neck. He felt his eyes widen as his throat constricted and he suddenly couldn't breathe, and as he tugged reflexively at the wispy black substance Erebos's smile grew. Through reddened vision, Leo saw a flash of movement behind the god, before a powerful blast of bright, orange fire hit Erebos from the side and knocked him heavily to the ground. The smoky cord around Leo's neck vanished and he gasped and coughed as air rushed back into his lungs.

And then a deep, gruff voice growled, "Stay _away_ from my son," and Leo looked up in shock at the brutish face of his father, who was glaring at Erebos with his meaty hands balled into fists. And he wasn't the only one. Behind Hephaestus, the other gods were all coming out of their trances and shrinking to human size, stretching their arms and necks and looking around at the darkened throne room.

"Wow," Frank said weakly, seeming to shrink a bit as one by one the Olympians turned toward Erebos with angry expressions.

"Can't say I love what you've done with the place," Aphrodite said sourly, wrinkling her nose at the black fire in the braziers along the columns. She tossed her hair over her shoulder, somehow managing to make bed-head look completely gorgeous.

Erebos sneered and his eyeless gaze turned sharply toward Percy as though he were planning to grab him and run. But in no time Poseidon had stepped between them and glared at Erebos, crossing his tanned arms and saying in a low, threatening voice, "Don't even think about it."

Erebos clucked his tongue and took a step backward. He raised his arms to waist height and darkness began to slink toward him, encasing him in shadow. Before he disappeared, however, a strong gust of wind blustered through the throne room, causing Jason, Frank, and Nico to stumble and Leo to throw an arm over his eyes as his hair and clothes were whipped about. The shadows seemed to hiss and thin, darting back into the corners of the room and leaving Erebos seething in anger.

"We can't have you running now," a dangerously calm voice said as Zeus stepped through the other Olympians, straightening the lapels of his pinstriped jacket. His blue eyes rested on the King of Darkness, and there was cold fury in them. "The war you so wanted is just getting started."

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><p><strong>Heh heh. Heh. About time, right?<strong>

**Anyway, so tomorrow's my birthday (24! :D ...You know, birthdays are less exciting when you start to reach your mid-twenties...) and I'm off work so I probably won't be on the computer like at all, haha. I'm off all next week, too, so I have no idea when I'll be able to update again. But hey, reviews do tend to remind me I've got a story to finish ;) I don't want to rush it too much, though. Lots of pretty constant action for these next six or so chapters.**

**How 'bout a review? Anybody else enjoy this chapter as much as I did? Hehe. Thanks again, everybody! Later days!**

**-oMM**


	46. XLVI Nico

**Hey, gang! Man, I'm getting too close to what I've got written... Gotta pick up the pace, haha.**

**Anyway, thanks bunches for all the reviews! (And extra thanks to those of you who wished me a Happy Birthday, haha. I had a great birthday, if anybody's wondering. Hung out at home and played Final Fantasy XII pretty much all day XD ) Glad to hear most of you are looking forward to the next Percy set - but try to enjoy this Nico set, okay? I promise it's a good one, haha.**

**Thanks, everybody! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XLVI<br>NICO**

Nico knew wars between gods were dangerous. Gods were living personifications of nature itself. They were the air you breathe, the water you drink, even the emotions you feel. But knowing and witnessing are two totally different things, and no amount of theoretical knowledge could have prepared him for the battle that began on Mount Olympus that night.

'Dangerous' didn't even begin to describe it. It was chaos—all-encompassing madness that struck the Olympian castle like a bolt of lightning and threw everything into a frenzy. Nico couldn't even tell who struck first. All he knew was that one second he and the others were standing in the throne room, watching the Olympian gods stare Erebos down threateningly, and the next there was a gust of wind, a flash of blinding light, a blaze of heat, and suddenly it was like the gigantic throne room had erupted around them, filled with every natural disaster that was known to man and possibly a few that weren't.

Throwing both arms over his head, Nico dropped to his knees to avoid being forced off his feet by the howling wind. He heard shouting all around him and saw flashes of movement, but couldn't have followed the abrupt battle no matter how hard he tried. But at the moment, following it wasn't quite as important in his mind as escaping it. This was very clearly no place for demigods, and he and his friends would probably find it in their best interests to make themselves scarce before they got caught in the crossfire.

Gritting his teeth, Nico lowered his arms and looked around, trying to take in as much of his surroundings as he could. He was careful not to focus too long in the direction of the gods in case any of them had gotten carried away and assumed their true immortal form. A heavy rain had started to fall in the throne room, making it especially difficult to see. A few feet in front of him, he could make out the form of Frank lying on his stomach with both hands over his head. To his right, Jason had made his way to Erebos's throne and was crouching beside Percy and Annabeth. Leo was nowhere in sight.

With difficulty, Nico got to his feet and staggered over to Jason and the others. "We have to get out of here!" he shouted over the wind when he was within earshot, leaning a hand against the throne for stability.

"I know!" Jason called back. He shook rainwater out of his eyes, but it was replaced almost instantly. "But how? They're blocking the door! And I don't think we want to get close—YAAGH!" He scrambled backward and slipped on the wet marble floor as a stray bolt of lightning struck the glass of Erebos's throne right where his head had been a second before. He scowled and climbed shakily back to his feet.

Nico looked around, the wind whipping his hair across his face, and tried to work out another exit. Before he could come up with a plan, he heard a yell from somewhere behind him and something solid collided with his back, knocking him forcefully and painfully to the ground. He twisted around with an annoyed groan to find Leo grimacing and pulling himself up from the floor. Nico glared at him.

"Don't look at me," Leo insisted. He sat up and turned sideways just as the god Hephaestus approached behind him, brushing his hands together and looking highly displeased. Although, Nico realized, that may have just been his normal face.

"You kids leave Erebos to us," Hephaestus said in his gruff, booming voice. "We need you in the city. His army's wreakin' all kinds o' havoc."

"How are we supposed to get out of here?" Leo called back over the racket. Hephaestus frowned, glancing toward the door they couldn't see through the torrent of wind and rain. Then he shrugged and reached suddenly toward the chamber's east wall, throwing a small orb of bright orange fire the size of a baseball. Nico wasn't sure how that would help them, but evidently the god's fire packed a punch, because when that little orb hit the wall it exploded so brilliantly that it blasted a twelve-foot hole right through the stone.

"I-Is that okay?" Frank, who Nico noticed had stumbled over and joined the meeting, stuttered in surprise.

Hephaestus shrugged again. "Eh, I gotta rebuild this whole dang city anyway. Now get goin', all o' ya. And kids… Thanks. For settin' us free." His eyes seemed to twinkle for the briefest of moments as he looked them all over, pausing a second longer on Leo, before he turned around and disappeared again into the storm.

"Well, you heard the man," Leo said to the rest of them. "Let's get out of here!"

As Leo and Nico stood, Jason crouched down and grabbed one of Percy's arms (both of which had been freed of the shadows binding them when the rain had started to fall), hanging it around his shoulders and pulling him to his feet. Percy grimaced and leaned on Jason, still looking tired and in pain. Annabeth shot a stony look over her shoulder before leading the way out of the throne room through the brand-new gaping hole in the wall. Together they ran across the courtyard, and Nico noticed with an inward groan that the storm was beginning to spread. Rain was pouring outside as well, even though they were well above the clouds, and the trees in the courtyard were nearly bent double from the gusting wind. Nico gritted his teeth as they ran, gripping his sword so tightly that his fingers turned numb in an effort to keep it from flying out of his hand.

They skidded to a halt at the top of the steps and looked down into the city, but through the wind, rain, and darkness seeing clearly was impossible. They could hear shouting and metallic clanging, the sounds of battles going on all over the mountainside. It was clear that Erebos's army was out in full swing, and it was down to their camp to stop it.

"We should split up," Annabeth suggested seriously. "Most of the others should be here by now. They need to know what's going on."

"Can you walk?" Jason asked Percy as the latter pulled away from the former.

Percy pulled Riptide from his pocket and shot a glance over his shoulder toward the palace. "I'll be fine as soon as I get some distance between me and Erebos."

"What's going on with you, anyway?" Nico asked him.

"Not a lot of time to explain. Long story short, I'm infected by his darkness 'cause I didn't die during the eclipse. He wants to kill me under the weird moon tonight to finish Nyx's spell and make himself more powerful."

"Oh, if that's all," Leo said sarcastically.

"And you were gonna _let_ him?" Annabeth demanded.

Percy held up his hands. "Hey, it was that or watch him kill you guys. I was just trying to—"

"Guys, this can wait, okay?" Jason interrupted. "The gods need our help. You said it, Annabeth—let's split up and get down there."

Annabeth huffed in confliction, undoubtedly knowing that Jason had a point. "Fine. We'll fan out and spread the word that the gods are awake and fighting Erebos, and that they want us to clear out the city." She bit her lip, looking troubled. "It's possible that Erebos might try to escape, or drive the gods' battle down to us. Be careful, everybody, okay? This isn't gonna be easy."

And with those comforting words of encouragement, the six of them split into random pairs and set off down the stone steps, branching off into the city. It became obvious very quickly that Erebos had managed to summon a whole mess of his children and followers, as more monsters than Nico had ever seen in one place had gathered throughout the mountainside city of Olympus. Most of their campers had arrived as well and joined the fight. After leaving the main road, Nico and Frank ended up in a sort of bazaar, a street-side market that must have once been a bustling center of activity. Now, though, almost all of the sale carts had been overturned or smashed to pieces. Rubble and broken wares littered the cobblestone street. And all down the road, battles were taking place.

Nico had barely stepped around the corner when he was met with a set of sharp claws swinging wildly toward him. "Whoa!" he stammered in surprise as he staggered backward into Frank, knocking them both to the ground and very narrowly missing having his throat slashed. He looked around at the sound of an angry, hissing growl and his eyes landed on three creatures standing nearby—ugly woman-bat hybrids with furry faces, dripping fangs, shriveled bodies, and huge, leathery wings.

"Aw, great," Nico grumbled as he and Frank climbed to their feet. "Keres."

"Carrie who?" Frank said blankly.

"Not 'Carrie', _Keres_. They're daemons that usually lurk around battlefields—they like violent deaths. Especially ones they cause."

Frank winced. "Violent deaths. My favorite. Are they more of Nyx and Erebos's weird offspring?"

"Unfortunately."

One of the Keres shrieked wildly and lunged for them, claws outstretched. Nico dodged sideways and swung his sword, vaporizing her in seconds. As her two sisters hissed angrily, Nico noticed that they seemed to have multiplied—a small host of daemons had appeared around them, and still more were battling other Greek and Roman campers all throughout the bazaar. Evidently they'd somehow managed to stumble on an entire Ker nest.

The next group of daemons charged forward as one. Frank drew his bow with lightning speed and embedded arrows in three of them, reducing them to dust. Nico ducked as one spread its wings and leapt into the air, diving straight for him. He stabbed upward and sliced her across the gut and she exploded into ash. Another tackled him from behind, its poisonous claws glancing harmlessly off his armor. His sword slipped from his hand and skittered across the cobblestone road, just out of his reach. He felt a rush of wind on his neck and was expecting the Ker to stab him in the back of the head when instead she shrieked shrilly and was shoved off of him. He twisted around to see the daemon impaled on the antlers of a black stag. The animal shook its head and the Ker disintegrated, then it turned sideways, beat the ground with its hooves, and charged another group, spearing and vaporizing six daemons in rapid succession.

While Frank cantered through the mob of Keres, Nico snatched up his sword and scanned the area. A group of a few Roman demigods nearby seemed to be having some difficulty. A few of them had gone down under the bat daemons and weren't moving, and those left were being quickly overwhelmed. Clucking his tongue in a spark of distress, Nico ran toward them. He'd fought Keres once before, the time a few years ago when his stepmother, Persephone, had sent him, Percy, and Thalia to retrieve the sword she'd secretly forged for her husband. He knew how dangerous they were, and how deadly their poison could be. They needed to be dispatched as quickly as possible.

With a growl, Nico sliced through two Keres that were bearing down on a Roman girl whose _gladius_ had been knocked from her grip. She nodded to him in thanks and went to retrieve her sword as he turned and blocked the claws of another daemon that swooped down on him. The Ker hissed, spraying a mouthful of saliva, and when Nico lifted an arm reflexively in disgust she jerked forward and almost sank her fangs into his neck. Thankfully, the blade of a _spatha_ burst through her chest at the same instant and she exploded into ash just in time.

Nico cringed as he brushed monster dust from his face—being coated in the stuff wasn't exactly his idea of a fun time.

"Nico?" a familiar voice said, and he looked over into the face of his Roman half-sister, Hazel.

"Hey," he greeted her shortly. "Thanks for that."

"Don't mention it. What happened up there?"

"The gods are awake," Nico explained as they both dodged around a charging Ker and Hazel beheaded it with a swing of her sword. "They're fighting Erebos."

"I thought so. I heard a few people have seen some of the minor gods throughout the city, joining the battle. Did you find Percy?"

She must have been trying to sound calm, but Nico didn't miss the worry in her voice. "Yeah, he's okay," he told her. "He's down here somewhere. I think he was with Annabeth when I last saw them."

"Good," Hazel said with a sigh of relief. She spun around seemingly without thought and sliced through two more Keres. "Jeez, how many of these things are there?"

"Too many," another voice replied as Frank, back in human form, jogged up to them. "Did you guys notice the rain pick up?"

Now that he mentioned it, the rain _did_ seem to be falling harder. When they'd left the summit, the rain in the city had been nothing but a light drizzle, like the storm from the palace just barely reached the mountainside. But now the drops falling from the sky were thicker and more insistent, and a low chorus of drumming had begun to echo down the bazaar as raindrops thrummed against rooftops. It could only mean that the storm was getting bigger—or closer.

"We can't waste time here," Nico said urgently. "We've got to clean this up and get out of here. Otherwise we'll be flattened under a battle between gods. I don't know about you guys, but that wasn't on my to-do list today."

"Right," Frank agreed as Hazel nodded resolutely. The three of them set off at a run down the street, intercepting groups of Keres and helping their fellow campers exterminate them. One small consolation in all the madness was that with the gods awake, Thanatos was back on border duty. At least they didn't have to worry about every monster they killed coming back for more. Unfortunately, there were plenty of the battlefield daemons to go around, and try as hard as they could Nico and the others couldn't save everybody. His death sense was going crazy with so much fighting going on around him. He felt a dull wash of cold every time another soul nearby crossed over, which was hardly something that helped to boost his morale.

But that didn't mean he was ready to give up. The gods were counting on them to help crush Erebos's army. This was war, after all, and no matter how many people they lost it would go on until only one side remained standing.

Nico couldn't summon any dead warriors on the immortal mountain, so far from the Underworld, so all he had to fight with was his sword. Luckily, the blade was made of Stygian iron and absorbed the energy of every spirit it defeated, stealing their essence from the air with each killing blow. It helped to invigorate his body and made it easier for him to suppress the aching buzzing in his head. They were down to only a few Keres remaining when Nico suddenly felt a cold wave of emptiness at the same instant someone behind him screamed in pain.

"NO!" Hazel's voice cried shrilly, and having vaporized the last Ker in front of him Nico whipped around to see his half-sister drive her sword heavily through another daemon, slicing it in half. It shrieked and vanished, but neither Hazel nor Nico was paying it any attention. Nico felt his breath turn to ice in his throat as Hazel threw herself on the ground beside Frank, who was lying on his back and shaking noticeably with his face screwed up in pain. He had a hand gripped tightly to the side of his neck, and blood was gushing out between his fingers.

"No…" Hazel repeated as her hands fumbled with the bag tied to her waist. "No, no, no…" She pulled out a bottle of what Nico assumed was nectar and uncapped it. Voice shaking, she ordered Frank, "Let go—please," before gripping his hand and pulling it away from his neck, exposing three ugly slash marks. Hazel tipped the bottle carefully over the wound, trickling a few drops of nectar from the rim. Frank grunted in pain, but some of the tension in his expression faded; the god drink must have been helping. Stowing the bottle back in her bag, Hazel tore a strip of wet fabric from her sleeve with shaking hands. She wadded it into a ball and pressed it to her boyfriend's neck, placing his hand back over it with another order of "Hold this, we have to slow the bleeding." She raised her head and looked around wildly. "We need a healer—some help."

Stepping toward them, Nico could tell the wound was bad. Frank's skin was already unnaturally pale and his eyes were starting to droop. The cloth he held over his neck was soaked with rainwater and was still growing darker by the second. Cuts dug by the Keres weren't just dangerous—they were deadly. The daemons' claws and fangs were imbued with disease. Wounds they inflicted were difficult—if not impossible—to heal.

Hazel's eyes looked up and met Nico's, and he could see the hopeless anguish in them as tears dotted their edges. "Nico," she said, her voice still trembling, "is there…?"

Nico's gaze dropped back to the son of Mars and again he felt that wash of emptiness. His death sense was ten times stronger where it came to his friends and family, to people he cared about. He could actually feel Frank's life leaving him, and it was horrible. Numbly, he shook his head, clenching his hands into fists in an effort to keep them from shaking. Hazel gasped and looked down at her boyfriend, the tears in her eyes breaking free and sliding down her face.

"Ha-ha!" a nearby voice suddenly laughed. "Check it out, Momos. I told you those bat witches would be more than enough to take down this sad excuse for an army."

Nico looked around in alarm and did a double take when he saw the two people standing a few feet away. They were the same height, one male and one female, and looked to be barely a year older than he was. Both had jet-black hair and shining, dark gray eyes. Their skin was a pale, ghostly white. Strangely, they were dressed in what looked like private school uniforms—the boy in khaki pants, a white Oxford shirt, and a navy blue sweater vest; the girl in a blue plaid skirt and a white button-down shirt. Their clothes were mussed and torn, dirty like they'd been in a fight or just spend an afternoon rolling around on the ground; the boy's sleeves were rolled up and his tie was loose, and the girl's shirt was halfway unbuttoned. And on their identical faces were two of the cruelest sneers Nico had ever seen.

"You're right. Pretty pathetic, huh?" the boy replied to the girl, his lip curling in wicked amusement. "But hey—looks like a few losers dodged the axe. Prob'ly hid under the bloody corpses o' their dead, weakling friends." The girl cackled in delight and the boy tilted his head to the side, evil sneer widening.

"So whaddaya say, Oizys?" he said in a low voice. "How 'bout you and me shove these lamers into the dirt where they belong?"

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><p><strong>Heh. To those of you who were expecting a god-fight, sorry. That'll come a bit later. I find it more fun to focus on the kids, you know? I'm saving the god stuff for nearer to the end. One big god does show up next chapter, though, so there's that.<strong>

**Review for me? Pretty please? See you sometime hopefully-soon, assuming I can get some more of this actually written, heh heh. Later days!**

**-oMM**


	47. XLVII Nico

**So I told myself I wouldn't post this chapter until I finished writing chapter 50 because I've literally been working on it for like a week and a half. I just finished it, and hot damn... It's over 8,000 words. LONGEST for this chapter by over 1,000 words. It just kept going and going and going... It's crazy, haha. Luckily for me, though, it should be the last obscenely long one. The rest afterward won't be quite that bad.**

**Anyway, sorry about the random and uncalled for drama last chapter. But hey, you guys know me. I love it too much :D And it sure ain't over yet!**

**Thanks to all of you who reviewed! If I recall, I promised the appearance of a major god this chapter (Momos and Oizys don't count, heh heh). Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XLVII<br>NICO**

"Who are you?" Hazel demanded, gripping the hilt of her sword and rising slowly to her feet.

The twins leered at her. "Oh, what a surprise," the girl said haughtily, rolling her eyes. "What can you expect from a bunch of idiot kids? Talk about uneducated." She looked Hazel up and down and smirked. "I bet everything people try to teach you gets stuck in all that mess you call hair." She let out a bark of high-pitched laughter and Hazel took a step back, a vague flush creeping up her face.

"Don't listen to them," Nico told her in an undertone, eyes trained on the twins as some thread in his memory was pulled tight. He didn't think he'd ever seen them before, but their names were ringing a distant bell. If only he could remember…

"Ooh, advice on confidence from the emo kid," the boy taunted, sniggering at Nico. "Why don't ya call some friends and team up on us? Might have a better chance. Oh, wait." He gave a look of extremely exaggerated sympathy. "Ya prob'ly ain't got any."

The girl laughed shrilly again. "Careful, Momos. He might cut his wrists and bleed on you."

Hazel gave a short gasp and Nico gritted his teeth as an intense feeling of anger and defiance welled up inside him. He had a serious urge to stalk right up to those two and punch them in their ugly, sneering faces. But he didn't move, because hearing the boy's name again triggered the realization he'd been waiting for.

"Momos," he repeated as information he'd learned long ago came back to him. "And Oizys…"

Hazel looked sideways at Nico. "Do you know them?"

"They're gods," he answered, glaring at the twins. "More children of Nyx and Erebos. Momos is the god of mockery. Oizys is the goddess of pain. I guess you could call them Olympus's bullies."

"Hm, smarter than ya look," Momos said with a sly grin. "Guess it ain't hard, though. If I had to guess just by lookin', I'd put your IQ at about twelve."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "I'm not the one dressed like some moron who got kicked out of high school."

Surprisingly, Momos laughed. "Aw, man. I'm likin' you more and more." Shaking his head, he shrugged and added, "Don't mean I ain't gonna kill ya."

With alarming speed Momos pulled an old-looking, army-standard combat knife from inside his vest and charged forward, baring his teeth in a crazy smile. Nico flinched in surprise and yanked his sword upward at the last second, barely deflecting the six-inch blade. He leapt backward as Momos swung his arm wildly, trying to put some distance between them, but the god was fast. He laughed and twisted sideways, driving his elbow against Nico's sword arm and following up instantly by kicking him so hard in the chest that his breastplate was dented and he was thrown backward about ten feet.

"Nico!" Hazel yelled as Oizys joined in the laughter. Nico growled in frustration and pushed himself up on his elbows in time to see both gods abruptly fall silent and turn to stare at him with sharp eyes.

"Nico?" Oizys repeated, a distinct coldness entering her voice. "Hades's brat?" A bit startled by the sudden change in tone, Nico didn't answer.

Momos's grin turned sour. "It was _you_," he said scathingly. "You're the jerk-wad that banished our brother!"

Nico frowned. "Brother, what—? Wait, you mean Moros." That had to be it. Moros had been a demigod son of Nyx before becoming the spirit of doom, which would make him the half-brother of Momos and Oizys. Climbing to his feet and removing his dented armor, Nico said, "Yeah, that was me. He got in my way. So I got rid of him." He sincerely hoped that he was coming across as more confident than he actually felt. Dealing with Moros had been extremely difficult. He'd almost died fighting the spirit on more than one occasion. And Moros wasn't even a god, whereas his two siblings who were now eyeing Nico with murderous looks were.

"Aw, I've been itchin' for some payback on that one," Momos said in a low voice, his evil smirk starting to return. "And here ya come, just fallin' into our laps. I was right, man, you really are stupid." As he and his twin laughed, Nico shot an anxious glance toward Frank and Hazel. Frank was still conscious, but Nico had no idea how long that would last if they didn't get him help. Hazel looked pale and worried, and was eyeing Nico with mild confusion over the conversation (though her wary eyes kept shooting down to her boyfriend every few seconds). A fight against gods was the last thing they had time for at the moment.

"Oh, I know," Oizys said suddenly, and Nico glanced her way to see her watching him with something akin to triumph on her face. She strode toward Hazel, who tightened her grip on her sword and held her ground. "You took our brother, so we'll just have to take something from you in return."

Oizys reached for Hazel with lightning speed. Hazel lifted her sword, but she misjudged the goddess's aim. Oizys's hand closed around Hazel's wrist and the latter cried out in pain, dropping her _spatha_ and squeezing her eyes shut. Nico tensed with a flash of panic as Oizys yanked Hazel toward her and grabbed both her arms from behind, leaning her face around Hazel's hair.

"So who's this?" she said sweetly as Momos chuckled in appreciation and Nico tightened his hands into fists. "Your friend? Girlfriend? Sister?" Something must have shown on Nico's face, because Oizys's smile widened. "Sister, huh? Perfect. Watch closely, Nico." She lifted a finger and held it half an inch from the side of Hazel's face. As Hazel tensed in apprehension, Oizys wiggled her eyebrows at Nico as though waiting for him to dare her to go on. Rather than play along with whatever insane game she was playing, Nico gripped his sword and lunged forward, preparing to split Oizys and Hazel up by force. But he was stopped halfway when the blade of Momos's knife lashed out and blocked his path.

"Oizys can inflict pain with a single touch," Momos explained with satisfaction, standing beside Nico and angling his knife so the blade's edge pressed against his throat. "I'd say you don't wanna make her mad, but it looks like it's a bit late for that."

Oizys cackled and tapped her finger to Hazel's temple, and Nico's eyes widened as Hazel screamed in pain. She struggled against the goddess's grip, but Oizys had an arm around her shoulders and wasn't letting go. Nico bit down on his tongue in an effort not to yell at the goddess of pain—he knew it wouldn't do any good. He unconsciously leaned forward, but the blade under his jaw held him back.

"You don't know what it's like to find out someone hurt your family, do you?" Oizys said with a cruel smile. Her cold, gray eyes bored into Nico's as she asked, "Want to find out?" As she wrapped a hand around Hazel's neck and again Hazel screamed like she'd been burned, Nico felt his blood boil with anger. He scanned their surroundings for help, but the only one nearby was Frank, and he was too out of it to move let alone fight. There had to be something they could do, some way to get Oizys away from Hazel so they could at least try to gain an even ground.

And then Nico's gaze landed on an overturned dealer's cart, and he got an idea.

As Oizys took a break to throw back her head and laugh, Nico frantically tried to lock eyes with Hazel. She was breathing heavily and looked to be in pain, but when her gaze finally rose to meet his her eyebrows angled in wonder at his serious expression. He looked meaningfully to his left and then back at her, hoping she would get the message. And thankfully, when she followed his gaze and her eyes shot open wide, he knew she understood.

The stand in question had clearly once sold very expensive-looking jewelry, as the cobblestone street around it was now littered with broken and dirty pieces of various precious gems and metals. In a flash, Hazel yanked her right arm free and thrust it toward the mess and bits of gold, bronze, and silver shot into the air toward her. Oizys barely had time to look around in alarm before she was whacked across the face with a barrage of rings and bangles and at least six or seven necklaces wrapped themselves tightly around her throat.

"_What?_" Momos yelled as his sister let go of Hazel and staggered backward, arms flailing as she attempted to tug the jewelry from her neck. The instant Momos was distracted, Nico reached up and shoved the god's arm away from his own throat, swinging his sword at the same time so that Momos was forced to leap backwards in avoidance. Angry at the immortal twins for hurting his sister, Nico twisted sideways and jabbed his blade swiftly toward Momos. With a growl, Momos barely dodged the strike, blocking the next one with his knife. He countered quickly, but Nico evaded and kicked his legs out from under him, knocking him to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hazel lift her heavy sword above her head and bring it down in a flashing arc. Still fighting the killer accessories, Oizys tried to stumble backward out of the way, but she wasn't fast enough. Hazel's blade sliced through the front of her clothes, cutting into her and drawing a thin line of golden _ichor_ from her shoulder to her hip.

As the goddess screamed, Momos shouted angrily "OIZYS!" He jerked sideways like he was about to charge Hazel, but Nico wasn't ready to let that happen. He lashed out and dug his blade along Momos's side beneath his ribs and golden blood spurted from the wound. With a feral yell, Momos spun around and threw a wild swing in Nico's vague direction, but he'd lost his concentration. Nico ducked it easily and lunged forward with a growl, driving his sword straight and burying it in Momos's chest.

The god roared in pain and hunched his shoulders, bowing his head. Somewhere behind him, Oizys shrieked again. A little surprised, Nico stared at the hilt of his sword as dark gold began to soak quickly through Momos's vest. Had that actually just happened?

"You think…" Momos growled in a raspy voice, "…you've won?" He let out a low, mirthless chuckle that erased the tentative sense of satisfaction that had begun to pass over Nico. Momos slowly raised his head and Nico felt a wash of cold when he saw the wide, frightening smile on the god's face. His gray eyes were dark and stormy, his black hair flattened against his forehead from the rain. In that same threatening voice, he said, "I'm a god, you idiot." His expression was so wrong, and too late Nico realized that getting away would really be in his best interests. Before he could so much as blink, Momos snarled furiously and jerked forward, and the next thing Nico knew his senses were overloaded by a sudden streak of blinding pain.

The god's evil smile widened further, showing off white, pointed teeth as he gave a bark of triumphant laughter. Part of Nico wanted to punch the guy's lights out, but a much bigger part could only stand stock-still as his muscles froze in shock and his lungs tightened so he could barely breathe. Splotches of red obscured his vision and seemed to affect his mind and memory as well. The last few seconds vanished and he had no idea what was going on, why he couldn't move and why his body suddenly hurt so much. But then Momos reached up and lightly shoved him backward and he staggered a few steps, his eyes dropping to the six-inch army knife lodged in his stomach.

Oh. Right. There was that.

"NO!" Hazel screamed from behind Momos. Nico raised his head, but his vision was too blurry to see her clearly. All he could see was the laughing face of the god of mockery. A small wave of anger passed over him, but his mind must have been too weak to hold onto it. It took half his strength to reach up and grip the handle of the knife, and the other half to yank the blade free. It fell from his fingers in seconds and with a weak grimace he sank heavily to his knees, blank exhaustion quickly covering up his anger with himself for letting something like this happen.

Then a firm grip settled itself on Nico's shoulder and an intensely cold chill rushed through his body. He knew it must have been his own death overtaking him, but then suddenly the red haze cleared from his vision and the pain died down. He was still kneeling on the wet ground in the Olympian city, but he could see clearly and breathe easily again. He gripped a hand in his shirt over his stomach to find the fabric wet with blood and rainwater, but beneath it he could tell the stab wound had disappeared. And what was more, he could still feel that firm, cold grip on his shoulder. Confused, he turned his head to see a steady, pale-skinned hand resting there—a hand connected to a body crouched beside him, dressed in a long, smoky, black cloak.

"Father…" Nico said in shocked disbelief, as he looked up into the expressionless face of the Lord of the Dead, Hades.

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><p><strong>Surprise, surprise. Hey, next chapter's a good deal longer than these last two, close to the length of 45 I think. I'm hoping my writing will pick up speed now that I've reached a certain point, so hopefully the next update won't be too long. I'm back to work on Monday, which should help keep things moving.<strong>

**So drop me a review? They make my day, really! Thanks, y'all. Later days!**

**-oMM**


	48. XLVIII Nico

**Hey gang! Happy Monday! Well, not for me since I'm back at work... I miss sleeping in. It'll be later by the time I post this, but I'm writing this note at 7:13 AM. Far too early.**

**Heh, anyway, thanks to all of you who reviewed last chapter! Got another nice long one for you. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XLVIII<br>NICO**

Hades didn't even look at Nico. He stood up slowly, cold gaze fixed on the gods of mockery and pain. Everyone had fallen completely silent, causing the rain pounding the cobblestone to echo almost deafeningly. Hazel's sword fell from her hand, but she didn't seem to notice. She was too busy staring in shock at the Greek counterpart of her father.

"Hades?" Momos stammered in surprise. Hades arched an eyebrow and Moros quickly backtracked, "I-I mean—Lord! _Lord_ Hades!" He gave an obviously-forced smile and tried for an awkward bow, but Nico's sword was still impaling his chest and must have made it rather difficult.

"I must admit," Hades said coolly, "that I'm surprised to see you both. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believed you to be serving time as boundary guards in the Fields of Punishment."

"Oh, we were!" Oizys insisted, nodding vigorously. The jewelry had ceased attacking her upon Hazel's being distracted, and she was now standing slightly behind her brother and seeming to shrink more and more by the second. "But things were getting out of hand down there, so we—"

"So instead of restoring order," Hades interrupted, "you decided to abandon your duty and go crawling to your traitorous parents, is that it?" Momos and Oizys didn't respond. They looked at each other, avoiding Hades's eyes, and the Lord of the Dead clasped his hands calmly behind his back. "And to make matters worse, I finally find you attempting to kill my children."

The twins paled. "Ah, yeah…" Momos said weakly. "About that, uh… Y'see, we can explain—"

"Please. I would love to hear it."

Nico didn't envy the two cowering gods. He knew full well what happened to people who displeased his father; he'd seen it plenty of times. All gods were scary when they were angry, but Hades, who was scary most of the time already—well, it was best not think about it.

"H-He…" Oizys muttered, wide eyes shooting toward Nico. "O-Our brother…"

"I know full well what became of Moros. He is back in the Underworld as we speak, facing punishment for turning against us. I had hoped no one else would be foolish enough to follow his… _example._" Hades's eyes darkened. "It would appear I was wrong."

"No!" Momos argued quickly. "No, Lord Hades, we're loyal to you! You and the other gods! Forget the Kin—I mean, forget Erebos. That old geezer can rot in Tartarus for all we—"

"Enough," Hades cut him off, holding up a hand, and Momos fell silent. "I haven't the time right now to decide whether or not to believe you. Return to your posts and _do not think_ of nearing the border again until I've returned. If all goes well tonight, I may even be in a good mood."

"Oh, it will!" Oizys said at once. "Erebos is no match for you guys! We know you'll crush him, right, Momos?"

"Duh," Momos agreed in an obviously fake impression of nonchalance.

"Hm," Hades mused, eyebrows rising a fraction of an inch. "You 'know' so, do you? I wonder, then, why you decided to follow him in the first place."

Momos and Oizys hesitated, again exchanging uneasy glances. "We'll just, uh… be getting back now," Momos said with a forced grin.

"Wait," Hades said suddenly as the twins started to turn away from him. They both flinched in response, and Hades's gaze hardened. "My son's sword, if you would, Momos."

Momos looked down. "Oh. Right." He reached up and pulled the sword from his chest, wincing in discomfort. He was about to set it down when Hades shook his head curtly and jerked it to his right. Momos followed the movement and when his eyes landed on Nico his jaw tightened. Stiffly he strode toward Nico and held the sword out hilt-first; still stunned silent, Nico reached up and took it from him. Then there was a brilliant flash of light, and Momos and Oizys were gone.

Hades stepped forward into the middle of the road, frowning at the spot from which the twins had vanished. "A questionable appointment, I'll admit…" he mused seemingly to himself. "Perhaps a regime alteration will be in order upon my return."

Slowly Nico climbed to his feet, staring at his father's back and trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. "Why…" he said distantly, before clearing his throat and asking in a stronger voice, "Why'd you save me? I thought…"

"You thought as Lord of the Dead I would prefer not to interfere in a life that's clearly at its end," Hades finished the sentence for him without turning around. "Ordinarily, that would be true. But I have my reasons." Finally he turned and looked Nico in the eye, and his gaze appeared to soften just barely. "I understand you've been busy in my absence. Not only did you banish Moros, but you wrested Nyx's control from one of the Underworld's largest hellhounds and brought the Furies back under our command. These are accomplishments befitting any son of mine and I was pleased to hear of them. Consider this compensation. Do not expect any further token or admission of gratitude."

Nico stared, dumbfounded. Had Hades just… _thanked_ him?

"And you," Hades went on, turning on the spot to look down at Hazel. Hazel breathed in sharply and seemed to shrink under his gaze. This was the first time the two of them had stood face to face since Nico had pulled Hazel from the Underworld almost two years ago, and he suspected she had no idea what to expect from the sudden meeting.

Surprising them both, however, Hades made no mention of the fact that Hazel as well was supposed to be dead. "I seem to recall you didn't give me a chance to reward you for your efforts last year in stopping the Giant War," he said flatly, as though it was Hazel's fault he hadn't thought to compensate her until now.

"Y-You don't have to…" Hazel squeaked in reply. She shook her head, but her eyes shot downward to where Frank was lying. With a jolt, Nico noticed that though the slice marks on his neck had stopped bleeding, the Ker's poison had been busy. Frank's fingers were twitching weakly, but his eyes were closed and his breathing was barely noticeable.

Hades followed Hazel's gaze and his eyebrows drew together a tiny bit. "Very well," he said in answer to her unspoken question. Then in one sweeping movement he stepped sideways, crouched down, and touched a hand to Frank's forehead. Instantly the color began returning to Frank's skin and he took a deep, gasping breath, his eyes shooting open. Hades stood as Hazel gasped and dropped instantly to the ground, tears filling her eyes as her boyfriend groaned and pulled himself into a sitting position. As soon as he did so, Hazel gave an odd, high-pitched squeal and threw her arms around him.

"W-What…?" Frank said blankly as he tentatively returned Hazel's bone-breaking hug. "What happened?" Then his eyes traveled up and widened as they landed on the god standing stiffly before him. "You're—!" he choked out.

"Responsible for saving you?" Hades suggested. "Yes, I am. And I'd advise you to be less careless in the future, child of war. Seeing my daughter in any kind of pain could very well make me rethink on my actions."

Hazel released Frank as he paled visibly and stammered, "Y-Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. You don't have to worry about me, sir." Nico thought Frank might have been laying the 'sir's on a little thick, but Hades seemed pleased by the response. Well, as close to 'pleased' as the Lord of the Dead ever got, anyway.

"If that is all," the god said, "I am needed elsewhere. You three did well in clearing out the Keres, but the city is still under siege. There is no time to waste."

"What's going on at the palace?" Nico asked before his father could disappear on them. "The storm—it's getting bigger. Is Erebos trying to drive the fight down here?"

"Erebos was born of Chaos," Hades explained with a frown. "His power is akin to that of the Earth Mother—perhaps greater under this Endless Night that he and Nyx conjured. It will not be easy to bring him down."

Nico felt a twinge of dread. "Even with all of you fighting together?"

"Erebos was prepared for this. All darkness obeys him, is part of him. He has divided his essence among the shadows—a crude way of copying himself and hiding from us. We're working to eliminate him, but until we find his original form—the true source of his power—then he has the ability to attack us from all sides."

"What?" Hazel gasped.

"Destroying his army, though," Hades went on, "would give us an advantage. I believe it will allow us to corner him. And that is why you all must do your best to free the city. The minor gods have dispersed themselves among you. They will help."

"But… what if we can't do it in time?" Frank said, a worried look on his face. "What if we fail?"

Though it was Frank's question, Hades looked directly at Nico when he answered firmly, "Don't." Somewhat strengthened by his father's trust, Nico nodded resolutely. Hades gave a curt, satisfied nod in return, and with a swish of his black cloak he disappeared.

"Well, that was terrifying," Frank said matter-of-factly, and Hazel grinned and swatted him on the arm.

"He's right, though," Nico replied grimly, shaking himself back to reality after that oddly surreal encounter. "The faster we take out this infestation, the better our chances of winning this war." He flipped his sword in his hand and looked around. The bazaar which used to play temporary home to the Keres was now empty save for the three of them, but Nico could hear the sounds of battle coming from both directions of the road. "We should split up," he decided. "You guys head west. I'll go east. Spread Hades's news if you can. Everybody needs to know how important this is."

Frank nodded in understanding and moved to retrieve his bow and quiver. A conflicted look appeared on Hazel's face for a brief moment, but she sighed shortly after and said, "Okay, let's get moving."

Nico waved to them and turned to leave, but stopped when Hazel suddenly called out, "Nico, wait!" He spun around to see her striding toward him and he took an unconscious step backward, which she ignored as she stalked up and wrapped him in a tight hug without any hesitation.

"I know I say it all the time," she muttered in a slightly strained voice, "but be careful, okay?" She backed up to look him in the eyes, hands remaining on his shoulders. "If Father hadn't come… I mean, I don't want—" Her eyes shot down to the blood on Nico's shirt and she broke off, looking troubled. He knew she had a point. If Hades hadn't shown up when he did, Nico would be dead. Plain and simple. Maybe he really _was_ as reckless as everyone said.

"Don't worry, I'll watch my back," he promised, offering Hazel a weak smile which she gratefully returned. "You be careful, too. And watch out for the big guy," he added, nodding over Hazel's shoulder toward Frank. "He needs you more than I do."

Hazel chuckled lightly. "Oh, I'll be having a talk with him, too." She squeezed Nico's shoulder before letting go and turning away from him. Frank gave her a puzzled expression, not having heard the siblings' conversation, but she only shook her head and smiled. Then with one final wave goodbye, Hazel and Frank set off at a jog down the road. Nico smiled to himself and turned away from them, tightening his grip on his sword and mentally saying a quick prayer of thanks to his father.

-ψ-ψ-ψ-

"Nico, watch out!"

At the sound of his name, Nico spun around in time to see fangs and a long, reptilian tongue shooting toward him. He ducked and rolled sideways, dodging the basilisk so it landed sliding on the street, then turned around and barely deflected the following swing of its oversized claws. He stumbled backward just as a thin, focused beam of orange fire shot over his shoulder and blasted the monster in the eye. It hissed and spit angrily before dissolving promptly to dust.

Nico shook his head and turned as Leo added, "I told you, man, your mind's wandering." He grinned and pointed to his head. "Gotta be attentive."

Just then there was a loud hissing growl and another basilisk nearly tackled Leo from the side. He yelped and jumped sideways as the blade of a sword blocked the monster, vaporizing it with a metallic swing.

Piper arched an eyebrow and rested her sword on her shoulder. "You were saying?" Leo gave a sheepish laugh and shrugged.

Camp Half-Blood's army was making good progress. The monster count in the mountainside city was dropping heavily, now that almost everyone from camp had arrived and fanned out to join the battle. For a while Nico had tried to travel quickly, helping out where he could and updating anyone who could listen about the situation at the Olympian palace. A few people had suggested they send some fighters to assist the gods, but no one was crazy enough to volunteer. Still, Nico assured everyone that by defeating Erebos's army, they were, in a way, helping the gods already. This, more than anything, served to considerably boost the general morale among the Resistance, which was a welcome bonus. Also helpfully, he'd run into Leo and Piper very shortly after leaving Frank and Hazel and they'd both agreed to help him spread the word. Between Leo's enthusiasm and Piper's charmspeak, Nico couldn't really have asked for a better PR team.

Joining up with them did, however, bring back to mind something he'd been puzzling over for most of the day. Part of him wanted to say something, but for a while he refrained to avoid the risk of sounding crazy or stirring up trouble. He must have been a bit too obvious in his confliction, though, because after sending off the small group of Hermes campers they'd been helping, Leo pointed a finger at Nico and said, "Alright, you've been looking at me funny all night. What gives? Am I possessed or something?"

Nico blinked. "What? No—no, you're not possessed. I'm sorry, it's just…" Leo raised his eyebrows expectantly and Piper turned to them in interest, crossing her arms. Glancing between them, Nico sighed shortly in defeat and said, "I just don't get it. I went back to Death Valley. There wasn't anyone alive there apart from Nyx. I couldn't sense anything in those ruins. I just… I don't understand how you did it."

Leo's tentative grin deflated at the sudden conversation topic. "Maybe you got there after I left," he suggested.

But Nico shook his head. "Festus was still there. You brought him back with you, right?"

"Well…" Leo said with a frown. "Look, I told you guys everything I remember. You can see me now, right? I'm not dead?"

"No, you're not," Nico admitted.

"So… maybe we just missed each other, you know? That crash site was pretty big, and you were sort of out of it, right? Maybe your death sense was just off."

"Maybe…" Nico replied uncertainly. It was true that he'd been exhausted when he'd gone back to Death Valley early that morning. He supposed it was possible that he'd just missed the fact that Leo was still alive. But something still felt different about the son of Hephaestus, something Nico couldn't pin down. Once this was all over maybe he'd have time to do some investigating and figure it out.

"This area looks clear," Piper reported, looking around them in a painfully obvious forced change of subject. "We should get moving. Where do you guys want to—?" She broke off as a deafening growl interrupted from somewhere to the east.

Leo pointed over his shoulder in the direction of the sound. "I vote _not_ that way." Nico gave him a pointed look and started past him, prompting him to sigh in defeat and say, "Okay, okay, it was worth a try."

A short jog down the road later, Nico, Leo, and Piper came across what had very obviously made the sound. In the middle of a small park littered with busted stone statues, a dozen hellhounds were duking it out. Most of them were big but not massive, around the size of a few rhinoceroses, but one in particular was as big as a garbage truck—and had a very familiar bark.

"Is that Mrs. O'Leary?" Piper said in surprise, eyes widening as their friendly hellhound swatted one of its opponents away before another rammed her in the side. Evidently the smaller pack was ganging up on her.

"Let's go help her!" Leo shouted, rushing forward without waiting for a response. Nico and Piper followed immediately.

Mrs. O'Leary barked excitedly when she noticed them approaching. In her moment of distraction, one of the other hellhounds leapt for her neck with its jaws open wide. Leo blasted it back with a blaze of fire as Nico dashed in and blocked another's claws with his sword. Back in action, Mrs. O'Leary growled and lunged for the one Leo had burned, snapping her teeth on thin air as it leapt out of the way. It had barely landed before Leo hit it with another fireball, knocking it back toward Mrs. O'Leary, and she flattened it beneath a paw a second later. Nico and Piper cornered another hellhound at the same time, and when it tried to dodge between them it was rewarded with two blades through its back. As soon as it was gone, though, another bounded forward to take its place. Piper blocked it while Nico sliced it across the front legs. It growled and snapped its teeth threateningly at them, and they were forced to back up toward Mrs. O'Leary.

"Can we take all of these guys?" Piper asked uncertainly as she blocked another attack aimed at the giant hound behind her.

"Hey—Nico!" Leo's voice called from Mrs. O'Leary's other side. "Any chance on some more giant hellhound backup?"

"What?" Nico yelled back blankly.

There was a roar of fire as Leo must have thrown an attack. "Call Benny!"

"Oh yeah!" Nico wondered why he hadn't thought of their new friend sooner. Maybe Benny could have helped them out against Momos and Oizys.

"Who's Benny?" Piper asked with a frown.

Nico didn't answer. "Cover me," he said instead, and without waiting for a response he shut his eyes and tried to locate the hellhound's consciousness. It was difficult with so many other Underworld creatures nearby, but Benny had managed to find him before. Hopefully he would be able to do it again.

_Benny!_ he called out with his mind. _Where are you? We need your help!_

For a few long seconds, nothing happened. Then something heavy slammed Nico in the chest and shoved him to the ground, and he opened his eyes with a pained grunt to see the jaws of one of the smaller hounds a foot from his face. He flinched in alarm and brought both arms up in defense, using his sword to block the snap of the monster's jaws. Then its teeth closed around the blade and tried to yank it from his grasp. Caught off guard, he almost lost his hold. But the jerk was enough to get the sword out of the way, and again the hellhound lunged downward in an effort to bite off Nico's face.

This time, there was a deafening growl from somewhere above them and the hellhound was suddenly wrenched into the air with a loud yelp. Heart pounding from the close call, Nico looked up to see that by the grace of the gods, Benny had heard his call. The smaller hellhound had time for one last whine before it was smashed to dust between Benny's enormous teeth.

"W-What the—?" Piper sputtered in surprise from nearby, her eyes wide. She staggered backward away from Benny as he tore through another hellhound.

"Piper, say hello to Benny," Nico responded, prompting her to gape at him in shock. He picked up his sword and climbed back to his feet, but almost at once his path was barred by a huge, furry leg. Mrs. O'Leary stepped protectively between him and Benny, growling at the new arrival. Benny smacked aside a smaller hellhound, vaporizing it in the process, and cocked his head sideways in interest at Mrs. O'Leary, who, despite being smaller than he was, stood her ground.

"No, Mrs. O'Leary, stop!" Nico shouted, stepping around her leg and trying to get her attention. "He's a friend!" Mrs. O'Leary blinked at Nico and barked in apprehension, so he reached an arm toward her and tried to carefully penetrate her mind, showing her his memories of Benny and impressing on her that he wasn't dangerous. For good measure, he did the same with Benny, just in case the larger hound decided to attack Mrs. O'Leary as well.

It must have worked, because after a few tense seconds both hellhounds turned simultaneously and resumed beating back the pack of smaller monsters. With Nico, Piper, and Leo's help, the ten or so remaining were gone in no time.

"Well, that was fun," Leo said wryly, standing beside Mrs. O'Leary and brushing his hands together. The hound responded with a great _WOOF!_ and wagged her enormous tail. She opened her jaws and gave Leo a surprise bath with her tongue, knocking him over in the process. She spun around toward Nico and Piper, probably to thank them in the same way, and they backed quickly away to avoid a similarly messy fate.

"So, uh…" Piper began as Mrs. O'Leary moved to inspect Benny, who sat down heavily on his hind legs and made the ground beneath them rumble. "You guys want to explain this?"

"We met Benny in Indiana," Leo said, picking himself up and doing his best to wipe the hellhound slobber from his face and arms. "He was under Nyx's control, but Nico broke him free and kind of adopted him."

Benny let out a friendly bark that was even more deafening than Mrs. O'Leary's and Piper cringed. "Oh, good. One more monster pet to look after."

"Hey, he comes in handy," Leo pointed out, looking down at a pile of black dust at his feet. He kicked it tentatively, and then backed quickly away as though expecting it to kick back. When it didn't, he breathed out in apparent relief and said, "Man, it's good to see that stuff staying still again. If I ever run into the death guy, remind me to thank him."

Nico rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to respond, but a deep, slow voice interrupted from nowhere, "You're in luck." All three of them jumped and whirled around as there was a bright flash of light and a figure appeared in front of the nearest overturned park bench—a tall, muscular figure with dark, ebony skin and huge, feathery wings.

"Whoa, what the—?" Leo said, stumbling backward in surprise.

Nico's eyes widened. "Thanatos," he recognized his father's lieutenant easily.

As Thanatos offered a miniscule smile, Leo's mouth dropped open. "_You're_ the death guy?" he said in disbelief.

Thanatos raised a dark eyebrow. "Problem?"

"No, no," Leo replied hurriedly, doing his best to regain his composure. "I just mean, uh… Well, when I think 'death' you wouldn't be exactly what comes to mind, you know?" He shot a glance at Piper, possibly for help, but Piper was busy staring at Thanatos with her mouth slightly open and her eyes as wide as yo-yos.

Thanatos chuckled in amusement, and Leo seemed to relax as he realized the god wasn't going to vaporize him. "I do get that often, as you can imagine," he said in his deep, calming voice.

"What are you doing here?" Nico asked in wonder.

"The same as you. Many of us have spread out to occupy the city in hopes of vanquishing Erebos's army. I have been making rounds, assuring that those defeated remained that way. The balance had been gravely altered in my absence. It will take some time to restore things to the way they should be." His eyes shot to Leo and narrowed just barely noticeably, and Nico felt an odd cold chill—though for what reason, he couldn't explain. "I heard mention of myself—though, for future reference, I do not typically go by 'the death guy'." Leo grinned sheepishly and Thanatos went on, "And when I saw who it was, I had the urge to make an appearance."

Leo frowned. "Meaning…?"

Thanatos regarded him for a long few seconds before asking carefully, "Are you not curious why you're here?"

"Here? I'm exterminating, same as everybody else—"

"Not 'here' as in Olympus," Thanatos corrected. "'Here' as in alive. You know what happened in Death Valley, correct?"

Leo winced like he was reluctant to resume this topic of conversation, but Nico felt his heart skip a beat in anticipation. Maybe Thanatos could help them figure out what was off. "Well, I…" Leo said slowly, "…was wondering how I survived, I guess, yeah—"

"You didn't."

Again Nico felt that chill of cold at those words. His eyes darted toward Leo to see the thoughtful expression vanish from his face. His eyes widened and his eyebrows knitted slowly together in bemused disbelief as he said weakly, "What?"

"The building collapse this morning killed you," Thanatos explained matter-of-factly, and Leo staggered like he'd been punched in the gut. Piper gasped as her eyes shot back and forth between Leo and Thanatos, and she placed a hand over her mouth. "However, while you were prepared and willing to die, part of you still did not want to. As you know, I was not there to police the veil. Your soul did not cross over, regained contact with your body, and brought you back. You woke in the desert shortly after."

Leo blinked hard and shook his head. "Wait, so I'm—I'm supposed to be dead?"

Thanatos lowered his chin. "Yes."

"But…" Piper said in a small voice, "wasn't Erebos controlling you? He said that our friends' deaths wouldn't be temporary—"

"He had power over me as my father, yes," Thanatos agreed. "But only when he chose to use it, such as the moment he killed Drew Tanaka. He did not, however, pay attention to every mortal death, and his focus this morning was not trained in California. He was too preoccupied with goings-on here."

Suddenly it all made sense. Nico didn't sense any living souls when he'd returned to Death Valley because there _were_ no living souls. It must have been after that that Leo had come back to life. Ordinarily, the death of a friend—whether permanent or temporary—would be something Nico would feel right away. But shadow-traveling himself and Reyna all the way from California to New York had drained so much of his strength that his senses must have been weak and dulled. Then later, when Leo had come back, Nico had had the odd feeling all day that something felt different about him—and now he knew he was right. Something _was_ different. He was just like Hazel, someone alive beyond their time. The question now was what that meant for his future.

Leo must have realized this same predicament, because when his eyes rose to look at Thanatos there was a distinct nervousness in them. "I guess you're… here to collect, huh?" he asked, a dull sort of acceptance in his voice like he knew the most likely answer. Piper bit her lip and took an unsteady step toward him, but her gaze shot toward the god of death and she hesitated.

But then Thanatos sighed and replied, "Actually, no. Were I to reclaim all the escaped souls who failed to cross over during my absence, the influx would be… unmanageable." He frowned as though imagining such a situation, and Leo and Piper exchanged glances of surprise. Then a small smile appeared on the god's face and he added, "Besides… I'm not the only one who feels that defeating the Queen of Night has earned you a second wind, so to speak."

Leo blinked, looking stunned. "You… Really?"

Thanatos's smile grew. "Really."

Leo cracked a grin and laughed in relief, and Nico couldn't help but smile with him after that brief moment of panic. To the god, Leo said haltingly, "I don't… know what to—"

"You need not," Thanatos interrupted, holding up a hand. "Consider it a trade. Just know that the next time your soul leaves your body _will_ be the last. No more exceptions." Leo gave a tentative grin and rubbed the back of his neck, and Nico shook his head. Their group of friends had gotten surprisingly good at cheating death over the years.

"I can no longer delay," Thanatos went on, his tone growing serious. "I have work to do. Though I want to thank you, demigods. In causing this work, you and your friends have succeeded in eradicating almost all of Erebos's army. I suspect it is only a matter of time until he admits defeat."

"Seriously? We're almost done?" Piper said, her pitch rising hopefully. When Thanatos nodded, she responded with a crazy grin to rival one of Leo's.

"Yes, it is good news," Thanatos agreed. "But until it is over, do not lower your guard. Erebos may yet have a few tricks up his sleeve." And with that cryptic message, the god of death stepped backward and vanished in a swirl of light and shadow.

The instant he was gone, Piper released her breath in a heavy sigh and threw her arms around Leo, squeezing his shoulders tightly. As he gave a giddy, disbelieving laugh and hugged her back, Nico folded his arms and said, "Well, guess _that_ explains a lot."

"I just… I don't _believe_ it," Piper said as she released Leo. "You're right here—I mean, you're real and everything." She gripped his chin and inspected his face as though looking for an 'on' switch. She tugged his hair, patted his shoulders, even lifted his shirt and poked at the bandages wrapped around his stomach. When he grimaced and jerked away from her, she put her hands on her hips with a look of wonder.

"Jeez, cut it out," Leo complained. "No artificial ingredients here. You're lookin' at one-hundred-percent, grade-A, flame-grilled finery."

"So how do you feel?" Piper asked.

Leo shrugged. "The same? I don't know, not like a zombie or a ghost or anything. I swear, I had no idea any of that happened."

"You _are_ the same," Nico said flatly. "The fact that you don't remember only means you weren't dead for that long—maybe an hour tops. When your soul came back, the shock would have healed the more serious injuries to your body, otherwise it wouldn't have been able to sustain life for much longer. You should have a really weak trace of the Underworld on you—I could sense it earlier, but I didn't realize what it was. Monsters and Underworld gods can probably sense it, too. But I promise, you're really you. I mean, look at Hazel. The same thing happened to her and she seems normal, right?"

Leo had looked a bit startled when Nico explained what had happened, but the mention of Hazel helped clear that away. "Yeah… Yeah, you're right," he said, looking visibly relieved.

"I know. Anyway, we should get moving. Thanatos said the army's almost done for. I don't know if the gods will need our help, but waiting around here isn't gonna—"

Suddenly a blinding spike of pain hit Nico between the eyes and his voice broke into a yell as he gripped his head in both hands. Leo and Piper must have felt the same thing because they both cried out in pain and doubled over, just before a harsh, whispery voice spoke over all other sound.

"_You think this is over,_" the voice growled threateningly. "_You think you've won. But I warned you before and I will warn you again—my darkness is eternal! Your light, your hope—soon it will all be consumed by darkness and despair!_"

There was bright flash of light behind Nico's eyes and images flashed in his mind—images of Camp Half-Blood, bathed in black fire. The cabins, the forges, the Big House, everything was being eaten away by Erebos's powerful Nightflame. All around people were running and screaming, trying to escape the dark, deadly flames.

"_You can fight me all you want,_" the King of Darkness went on, "_but while you fight your precious home burns to the ground! So what will it be? Surrender to the darkness, or watch as the light you so cling to is swallowed by the shadows? The choice is yours._" The god's voice began to laugh—a cold, empty laugh that seemed to drain the warmth and will from Nico's body and leave only fear. There was another flash of light, before finally the laughter faded, the pain died down, and he was back in the ruined park on Mount Olympus, surrounded by the black dust of defeated monsters and the broken statues of gods.

"Wh-What was that?" Piper asked in a weak, wavering voice. Nico glanced up and realized that all three of them were on their knees on the grass. Benny and Mrs. O'Leary were nearby, both lying down with their paws over their noses, whimpering.

"I don't know," Leo replied shakily as he stumbled to his feet, eyes staring wide and fearful at the ground. "But I'm filing it under 'definitely not good'."

Nico swallowed hard as he tried and failed to push the images of their camp in flames from his mind. Blinking and glancing up at the others, he said gravely, "Well, now we know what to do."

Leo and Piper turned to him slowly, and Nico got the feeling by their expressions that they were thinking the same thing he was when he finished, "We have to get back to Camp Half-Blood."

* * *

><p><strong>Dun DUN DUNNNN!<strong>

**So now we've got some info from the gods, we know what went down in Death Valley, the monster army is pretty much gone, and it's time to head back to Camp for the final brawl. Only six chapters left, guys. Next two are really long and action-packed, too, so there's that to look forward to.**

**How 'bout dem reviews? The end is in sight now... I can just barely see it, haha.**

**Later days!**

**-oMM**


	49. XLIX Percy

**Hi again! Thanks to everybody who reviewed Monday's chapter. I promised you another long, action-packed one to follow, right? Welp, here it is :D**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>XLIX<br>PERCY**

Percy didn't think things could get any worse. But as usual, he was dead wrong.

Erebos could have been bluffing. He could have sent them all that vision of their camp in flames as a scare tactic, a last-ditch effort to distract them as his army fell around him. Everything could have been fine—they could have had nothing to worry about.

Sure, Erebos _could_ have been lying. But somehow not a single person believed that he was.

"Freakin' _coward_," Clarisse growled, kicking a pile of monster dust and pushing her wet hair away from her face. "Why doesn't he come back here and _fight like a man!_"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I don't think that's gonna work."

As he picked up his sword from where he'd dropped it during Erebos's broadcast, Clarisse turned on him with a stiff glare. She opened her mouth to retort, but remained silent as her eyes slid over his shoulder and her eyebrows drew together. Percy spun around to see a minor commotion behind him as a girl's voice suddenly yelled in pain and someone else shouted, "Stop, you can't just rip it out!"

Alarmed, Percy jogged past a few other recovering campers to see that the person who'd screamed was Katie Gardner. She was kneeling on the ground beside a boy from her cabin who had evidently just tried to pull the black arrow from her shoulder.

"Back off," Annabeth said firmly as she pushed through the small crowd and shooed the Demeter boy away, kneeling down to inspect the wound herself. Her eyes were distinctly wild and dark, probably over worry for their camp, but she didn't mention Erebos. "We need a healer. I saw Will a little while ago—"

"I'm here," another voice sounded behind Percy and he turned again to see the Apollo counselor approaching with a stony expression. His right hand was gripped over his left arm, which was soaked with blood and hung limply at his side.

"Hey," Percy said, stepping in front of him. "You're—"

"I'm fine, let me through," Will cut him off, pushing past to get to Katie. As he set to work on her shoulder, Percy bit his tongue and grimaced in an effort not to argue. He had to remind himself that they were in a war, and it wasn't over yet. The long, trying battle they'd just fought had taken a major toll on them. Many were hurt, others dead. And now, even after greatly reducing Erebos's forces, the King of Darkness still couldn't be beaten. But Percy refused to believe that everything they'd done so far had been for nothing. There had to be a way to end all this.

With a frustrated growl, he turned and walked away from the others, massaging the sides of his head and trying to calm his nerves. Barely a few seconds had passed before a hand landed on his shoulder and someone said, "Percy." He lifted his head and turned around to see Jason standing behind him with a serious expression. "I don't want to be insensitive, but… I gotta know." His eyes darted to either side before his voice dropped and he went on, "You could sense Erebos earlier. You knew when he was coming for us. Can you feel anything now? Like… did he really leave?"

Percy sighed, gaze lowering to stare at the stone street. The last thing he wanted to do was focus on his connection to the King of Darkness. But Jason was right—maybe it could actually help them. His strength had come back as he'd left the palace that evening, separating himself from Erebos. But as the night had worn on, things had changed. The wind and rain had picked up, and with it the shadows had seemed to strengthen, as if they were absorbing any light that remained in the air. The painful twisting sensation in Percy's chest that he knew was what tied him to Erebos had gotten stronger as well, more difficult to ignore. He'd been worried that it meant the gods' battle was getting closer to them—or worse, that they'd been defeated.

But then shortly before Erebos sent them his message, the feeling had died down again. He'd thought maybe, with some stroke of luck, his father and the other Olympians had won. But then at once he and his friends had all shared the same vision—a vision of Camp Half-Blood besieged by Erebos's fire—and it had clicked.

"He's not here," he answered Jason heavily. "I could feel him getting closer or stronger or… something. But then he just… disappeared." He looked up to see regretful understanding in Jason's eyes. "He's not on the mountain. I don't think he was bluffing with that little public service announcement. And I know you don't think so, either."

Jason cursed in Latin. "I was afraid of that. If that's true, though, I'd still really like to know what happened at the palace. Where are the gods? You think they followed Erebos?"

"Most of us did, yes."

Percy and Jason weren't the only ones who jumped and whirled around at the sudden flash of light and accompanying voice. As it faded, standing before them was a man with short, curly, salt-and-pepper hair and a disgruntled expression. He was dressed in Greek battle armor and his free hand was gripping a three-foot wooden staff topped with dove wings and decorated with two live, slithering snakes.

"Hermes," Percy recognized him at once, his eyes widening.

Hermes raised a dark eyebrow. "Percy Jackson," he said in greeting, inclining his head just barely. "Your father wishes you well. He and his brothers sent me to bring you all an update on our… situation."

Percy frowned. "They sent _you?_"

Hermes's expression hardened. "Yes, the god of messengers, sent to deliver a message. Shocking, isn't it?"

"No—uh, that's not what I—"

_Oh, don't mind him, dear,_ a raspy, female voice spoke in his mind—and judging by the people cringing around him, he wasn't the only one who heard it. _He's just grumpy because the battle hasn't been going well._

Hermes rolled his eyes. "That's one way of putting it."

_Aw, he just needs a nice, quality rat, _a similar, though decidedly male, voice responded._ A tassssty meal will get anybody back in a good mood._

_I suppose you're trying to be thoughtful, but I hardly think that will help._

_On second thought, give _me_ the rat. Give him a smack upside the head and he'll be good as new._

_George!_

"Enough!" Hermes shouted, and the two arguing snakes twisting around his caduceus hissed and fell silent. Turning back to Percy and the others, he went on, "We all appreciate the work you've done here in the city. In a way, it's good that we have Erebos on the run. However, as you seem to have guessed, his message was no idle threat—and yes, we saw it too. Apparently, the second he realized his army was being depleted, he decided for a more underhanded approach. He's at your camp now wreaking who-knows-what havoc."

"What?" someone said in disbelief.

"So those visions were real?"

"We have to stop him!"

"He can't get away with this!"

"Yes, I _know_," Hermes interrupted, holding up his free hand. "That's why most of us have already gone after him."

"Then we're going, too," Percy said at once, looking Hermes in the eye unflinchingly.

"You will _never_ hear me say this again," Clarisse added, crossing her arms, "but I'm with Jackson. No way I'm sitting here while our camp gets destroyed."

The god sighed. "Can't say I'm surprised. Not that I think it'll change your minds, but just so you know what we're dealing with—Erebos is more powerful than you realize. All the darkness around you, that's what gives him strength. He's figured out a way to divide his body among the shadows, to scatter himself and multiply. It's the reason we haven't been able to defeat him, and we have no cause to believe he isn't doing the same at your camp."

"If that's the case," Jason spoke up, "then you guys are gonna need all the help you can get, right?"

Hermes looked frustrated. "But understand what you're getting into—"

"Camp Half-Blood is our home," Percy said adamantly, hearing a tentative murmur of assent behind him. "We'll defend it from anyone, no matter what."

Hermes's eyes narrowed like he perceived that statement as a threat, but before he could reply Martha's voice interrupted, _Then it's settled, hmm? We're all going back to Camp Half-Blood._

_Do we have to? _George complained. _I hate that place. Not very snake-friendly—they hardly have _any_ rats._

_How can you possssibly be thinking about food at a time like this?_

_Because I'm hungry!_

"When this is over," Hermes replied, glaring at the snakes as they blinked at him innocently, "you can have all the _rats_ you want. But for now, I need you two to focus."

_Yessss!_

_As you ssssay._

"Good," Hermes said with a short sigh. "Now, if you're coming back, I recommend you get moving immediately. That it, if you want to see your camp before it's reduced to a pile of ashes. Oh, which reminds me…" His dark blue eyes scanned the small congregation of campers and his sharp features tightened into a frown. "Where's the fire user—the one who freed Hypnos?"

"Leo?" Jason said. "He's around here somewhere. Haven't seen him since we left the palace."

"Find him. Hephaestus will be doing his best to put out the Nightflame but help would be appreciated." Percy and Jason nodded in understanding and Hermes's eyes brightened a shade. "Good luck, all of you. I'm sure I'll see you again soon." And with that, there was a blinding flash of light and the god vanished.

"I'm gonna try to find Reyna," Jason decided, his expression turning serious. "I'm sure she's already planning to go back, but the extra info couldn't hurt."

"Leave Leo to me," Annabeth volunteered, stepping forward with her stormy eyes trained on the spot from which Hermes had just disappeared. She blinked and glanced up at Percy, adding, "You should call Blackjack and get to camp straight away. We'll meet you there."

"Right," Percy agreed before Annabeth leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. As she and Jason set off in different directions, Percy turned to the campers gathered in the street. "Everybody who's injured, stay behind. Get healed up. Everybody else, we're splitting up. Some of you need to spread the word—tell whoever's left what Hermes said and that we're going back to stop Erebos for good. The rest of you… Get moving as quickly as you can. Hop a pegasus, steal a car, whatever you have to do to get back to Long Island as quickly as possible. …We don't know how much time we've got."

As everyone started to mobilize, Clarisse came to stand beside Percy, her spear resting against her shoulder. He didn't look at her, only watched his friends' somber, convicted expressions as the heavy weight in his chest seemed to increase with every breath.

"Don't tell me you're chickening out," Clarisse said, elbowing him a bit too hard in the arm. When he turned to face her with a glare, she added, "Not very like you. Don't make me take back my support."

Unconsciously, the scowl slid from Percy's face and instead he gave Clarisse a rueful smile. "Okay," he said admissibly, forcibly steeling his nerves. "Let's go fight a god."

-ψ-ψ-ψ-

Nightflame. Apparently, that's what Erebos's dark fire was called. Sort of a fitting name, Percy thought, as it looked like the night sky in flickering, burning form—swirling black and blue as it chewed at the buildings spread throughout the camp. It had taken Percy and the other pegasus-riders under half an hour to return to Camp Half-Blood, and during that time he'd almost succeeded in convincing himself that things couldn't have been as bad as they'd looked in the vision.

And—as usual—he was wrong again.

He decided not to waste time focusing on the chaos and instead work on finding a way to fix anything he could. He'd barely sent Blackjack away to avoid the flames, though, when somebody called his name and he turned to see Lou Ellen Baker and two of her half-siblings running toward them.

"I'm glad you guys are here," Lou Ellen said breathlessly, leaning over and resting her hands on her knees. "We've got a few problems."

"Yeah, I can see that," Percy replied wryly. "What's going on here?"

"That's what I'd like to know," another voice interrupted as a small team of Roman legionnaires joined them as well, Octavian at the front. He and the others were covered in dirt and ash—and in some cases, blood.

"First this black fire suddenly springs up," Octavian went on, waving an arm aimlessly behind him, "then some of the _gods_ decide to pay a visit, then the shadows themselves start coming to life and fighting back. What the heck is going on?" He paused and frowned at Percy in momentary wonder. "Wait, weren't you missing?"

"We beat most of Erebos's army," Percy explained quickly, ignoring that last question, "but he escaped the gods and came here, threatening to destroy the camp. We talked to Hermes—he said Erebos has… split himself? Like he's using the darkness as some kind of medium."

"That explains why people have been seeing him all over the place," Octavian said thoughtfully.

"I hope you're right about his army," Lou Ellen added, looking agitated, "because we're having an extremely difficult time maintaining the barrier with Erebos's darkness spreading through the camp. Even under the lights it's like it just sucks our power out of us."

"Don't overdo it," Percy warned her. "Everybody's on their way back. We'll have help soon." Turning to Octavian, he asked, "What about the people who can't fight? Are they safe?"

"There aren't many safe places left," Octavian admitted ruefully, "but we've been gathering the children and elderly in the newer cabins by the stables. They've got a hefty guard, but if the fire spreads there I don't think we'll be able to stop it. Nothing we've done has been able to put it out."

"It takes immortal light fire," Lou Ellen reminded them, "like Nico said earlier. Well, or Erebos has to stop it himself, but I don't think that's about to happen."

"Hermes said Hephaestus is working on the fire," Percy explained, "and Leo's on his way back, too. We just need to contain the damage as much as we can while they get that under control."

"Easier said than done," Octavian pointed out.

Percy shrugged in agreement. "So what areas need the most help?"

Octavian gave a short sigh that clearly said, _All of them_. "The Big House was hit first. Most of us went straight there to try and keep the fire from reaching the infirmary, but it's probably only a matter of time. Especially since we can't move some of the injured. I was just on my way there now. The next things he went for were the forge and equipment sheds—undoubtedly to try and keep us from getting to the rest of our supplies or replacing anything that's been lost. Since then it's been more or less random."

"Okay," Percy said firmly, turning to the people who'd arrived with him. "A third of you go with Octavian to the Big House and do whatever you can to beat back Erebos's darkness and protect the infirmary. Clarisse, you take another third and see what you can salvage from the equipment sheds. The rest of you are with me. We'll take the forges."

And with that, the group scattered at once. Percy headed straight for the forge, trying to ignore the black fire and people running and screaming across the corners of his vision. Rain was falling just as it had done on Mount Olympus, breaking the weather barrier above the camp and making the ground beneath their feet slick with mud and wet grass. Though even that did nothing to quench the Nightflame.

When they reached the forge, Percy finally understood what Hermes had said about Erebos becoming the darkness, and what Octavian had reported about the shadows fighting back. Humanoid figures had formed from the darkness and were attacking people and buildings alike with swords made of dark obsidian. They had no faces and didn't speak, but moved as fast as wind. He watched anxiously as one shadow wraith cut down a Roman soldier and another demolished the remains of the giant, double doors that guarded the forge's main building.

"What are those things?" somebody behind Percy asked in a quavering voice.

"Erebos's power," Percy answered gravely, "in living, killing form. Don't get sliced up." Without waiting for a reply, he tightened his grip on his sword, wishing wholeheartedly that he had some kind of armor, and charged into the madness. He pushed aside someone who was about to get speared from behind and swung Riptide in an arc, aiming for the wraith's middle. He stumbled a bit when, unexpectedly, his blade passed through its body as if he were, in fact, trying to cut a shadow. The wraith made a hissing noise like water dropped on hot pavement and raised its blade, bringing it down in a deadly swipe. Reflexively Percy pulled his sword up in defense, having a brief, terrifying vision of the black sword passing through his own and slicing him in half like a salami loaf. But thankfully the creature's blade was more substantial that it was, because the obsidian slammed against Riptide with a resounding _clang_.

Regaining his footing, Percy threw his weight against his sword and shoved so hard the wraith was knocked backward, arms flailing. It stumbled out of the beam of light over the forges and into the shadows, and instantly the darkness seemed to cling to it like a magnet. It straightened and raised its sword with renewed vigor—until the bronze blade of a camper's sword sliced through its neck from behind and it exploded in a rush of wind.

Percy blinked in mild surprise. So they couldn't be killed in the light, and while the darkness made them stronger it also made them more substantial—more vulnerable. That was definitely good to know.

As quickly as he could he spread this news to the others who'd arrived with him, trying to lead the shadow men away from the light at any chance he got. The wraiths were causing general havoc in and around the forges, not bothered at all by the Nightflame, and slow progress was being made in eliminating them. Beyond the ruined buildings, Percy could see the strawberry fields—or rather, what used to be the strawberry fields. Now they were all burned to dust.

After cutting down his eleventh or twelfth shadow man—he'd lost count; it might have been more—Percy caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye and turned instinctively, but the wraith behind him wasn't aiming his way. Its sword collided with that of another camper, a guy just barely shorter than Percy, as the latter blocked the strike and followed up with a slightly wild attack of his own. The wraith, standing in the dark and fueled by the surrounding shadows, dodged quickly and struck again, and likely would have sliced the kid in half had Percy not surged forward and shouldered him aside, parrying the obsidian blade himself. The guy stumbled and fell as Percy gritted his teeth and shoved the wraith's sword aside, pivoting around and driving Riptide's blade through the creature's chest. The resulting gust of dry wind blew rain in his face and almost knocked him over.

"You alright?" Percy asked the other camper, offering him a hand.

He ignored it and pulled himself to his feet, grumbling, "Thanks, but I had that thing."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Sure you did." He was about to turn away, not in the mood to waste time on arguing, when he finally got a good look at the kid and did a double take. "Wait, I know you. Kendall, right? You were in Central Park the day we fought the drakons."

Kendall scowled, the split brow over his blinded eye angling downward in a seemingly reflexive gesture. "Yeah, I was. And on that subject, I thought you guys wanted us here 'cause this place was _safe_. Not that I was expecting a playground, but this is a bit much, don't you think?"

"Can't say I disagree," Percy admitted with a rueful half-smile. "This wasn't supposed to happen. But now that it has, we've got to deal with it."

"You think I don't realize that?"

Suddenly they were interrupted by a loud explosion. Stumbling as the ground shuddered beneath his feet, Percy spun toward the sound to see two of the equipment sheds blasted apart by a storm of Nightflame, throwing people into the mud amid a chorus of screams. Without a second thought Percy ran toward them, Kendall on his heels. The first person he came to was already dragging herself into a sitting position and looked to be fine, if a little shocked and winded. The second, however, was badly burned and unnaturally still. Another person nearby was trying and failing to extinguish the black fire eating at his arm, and still another had a jagged piece of wood lodged in her right thigh. Percy felt a flash of helplessness as he wanted to do something for them all at once but had no idea what, until a furious voice nearby screamed with rage and he whipped around to see Clarisse charging into a group of shadow men.

With one last anxious glance at the injured people around the wreckage of the two sheds, he ran toward her. The explosion had taken out the closest lights, throwing them in a wide patch of even darkness. But that didn't seem to bother Clarisse at all. She tore through one wraith and used the back end of her electric spear to knock another's feet out from under it. She stabbed a third, sending a bright arc of electricity through it and causing it to explode. But more were coming from all directions, whether attracted by the battle or the darkness Percy couldn't be sure. When he reached the nearest one he wasted no time; he stabbed it in the back and it disappeared, and a few of its friends turned to face the new disturbance as a result. Two swung for him in unison and he threw himself onto the ground, before rolling sideways and lashing out with Riptide, slicing through a creature's leg. It stumbled and swung its sword wildly, narrowly missing its brother, who ducked and dove toward Percy. He scrambled out of the way and brought his sword down, cutting through its neck.

He caught a glimpse of Kendall joining the fray nearby before another two wraiths tackled him from behind and his sword was almost knocked from his hand. He stabbed blindly over his shoulder and was rewarded with a strong rush of dry wind as he must have speared one of the attackers. He was then able to shove the other one off and climb hastily to his feet, spinning around in time to barely block the blade aimed at his chest. The creature followed up quickly and shoved forward, and Percy diverted its strike at the last second, its sword glancing off his own and instead slicing a shallow cut across his left arm. He felt a swooping sensation in his lungs as the darkness inside him did some kind of dance, and he gasped and stumbled backward, feeling like the wind had been knocked out of him. Two wraiths decided to take advantage of this at once and surged forward with alarming speed, but there was a flash of movement and they both burst into empty air. Catching his breath, Percy glanced up to see Clarisse flip her spear and stare back at him. Her hair and clothes were badly singed, most of her armor was gone, and she had a wide gash on the side of her face. There was blood on her arm as well, though he couldn't see where it came from. The look in her eyes was dark and stony—the same one she always got when people she cared about had been hurt or threatened. That explosion had apparently snapped something inside her, and suddenly Percy was extremely glad they were on the same side.

Though, if he was honest, she was kind of looking at him like she was seriously considering running him through with her electric spear. He stayed still for a moment, waiting, until her eyes darted to something over his shoulder and she shouted, "Behind you!" before turning away and reengaging another shadow man. Percy spun around to see three of them barreling toward him. He stepped to the side and swung Riptide, hearing the blade _clang_ against glass as one of the creatures blocked his strike. Another aimed for his legs, but he leapt backward, bringing his blade down on its shoulder. He threw an arm over his face as it exploded right in front of him, and was rewarded with a kick to the stomach while he wasn't looking. His feet slid on the wet grass and he landed on his back, rolling quickly to the side as a sword whisked toward him and instead embedded itself in the mud. He twisted and kicked the wraith's feet out from under it, then jumped to his knees and stabbed it through the chest, rewarding himself with another dull hiss and rush of stale air. The third one dove for him with no sword and both arms outstretched, and he was pushed back to the ground as its shadowy hands wrapped around his throat. His sword remained stuck blade-first in the mud, just out of his reach. He tried to grab the creature's arms, but its body was oddly insubstantial, there but not completely solid. He could feel it, but he couldn't get a good hold. It was like trying to close your hand around a glob of Jell-O.

Grinding his teeth and struggling for breath, Percy reached a hand toward his sword as though he could call it to him with his mind. Obviously nothing happened, and in frustration he let his arm drop to the mud with a _squelch_. The unpleasant sound gave him an idea, though—sure, rain didn't exactly qualify as a body of water, but he'd succeeded in controlling sewer water and sprinkler systems before. Maybe this could work, too.

The wraith made a steam-like hissing sound and its grip on Percy's throat tightened. He squinted his eyes and ignored the dark blotches trying to obscure his vision, instead focusing on the drops falling from the sky and soaking into the ground. He felt a familiar tugging sensation in his gut, though this time it was unexpectedly accompanied by a painful tightening in his chest, as though Erebos's darkness was resisting this attempt wholeheartedly. But there was no _way_ he was letting it win, not this time. With a defiant yell, Percy clenched his left hand into a fist and slammed it into the mud. The falling rain in a three-foot radius all slanted and sped toward the wraith, as twin streams of water sprang from the ground on either side of it. Everything rammed into it at once and it burst into air, disappearing in a gust of wind and rain.

Percy gasped and sat up straight, coughing as air quickly refilled his empty lungs. The water dropped heavily to the ground and the rain began falling normally again as though nothing had happened. A powerful ache had taken root in his chest and his limbs felt surprisingly weak. "Guess I won't be trying _that_ again in the near future," he muttered a bit hoarsely, grimacing in discomfort.

"_Get down!_" he heard Clarisse suddenly shout from a distance, and he turned his head in time to see her shove Kendall to the ground and use the bladed end of her spear to slice off the outstretched arm of one of the five wraiths who'd been about to skewer him. She blocked the blade of another with the back end of her weapon, but she couldn't stop the other three, and Percy froze in horror as two obsidian blades stabbed her in the back and the third impaled her stomach.

Somehow even that wasn't enough to completely stop her. She yelled angrily and swung her spear, decapitating one of the shadow men. As it and its sword disappeared, the other two yanked theirs back and scrambled away from her, backing up just out of reach of her spear. She turned toward them and took a step, but that must have been all she could handle because her legs gave out and she dropped heavily to the ground.

"NO!" Percy yelled, somehow finding his strength again and springing to his feet. He cleared the length of the wreckage site in seconds, skidding to his knees in the mud beside Clarisse and hardly believing what he was seeing. She was probably the toughest person he knew. She _never_ got hurt and she _never_ lost. Seeing her now, covered in blood and barely breathing, just wasn't right.

"Why…?" a low, gruff voice said quietly, and Percy twisted numbly around to see Kendall climbing slowly to his feet and staring unblinkingly at Clarisse. Surprisingly, there was anger in his brown eye. He had the look of someone who had always fended for himself, and hadn't ever imagined doing things any other way. "Why'd she do that? She had no reason to…"

"She… said yesterday," Percy replied distantly, "that… children of Ares were protectors." Kendall shook his head defiantly and Percy looked back down at Clarisse, feeling like he was about to be sick. Her eyes formed a weak glare as they shifted to meet his.

"Jackson…" she said in a tired voice, probably trying for her usual haughty bravado. "Why are you… sitting around here? Haven't you… got a king to dethrone?" And then her eyes darkened, and her body grew still.

Percy didn't move. He knew there were still enemies around them, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to fight them back. He and Clarisse had never gotten along; they'd butted heads ever since his first day at Camp Half-Blood. They'd been forced to work together on occasion, but it rarely went well. So why did watching her die leave an odd, insistent, emptiness inside him? They weren't even friends.

But when he thought about it, he realized that that wasn't true. After all—he'd lost enough friends to recognize what it felt like.

A dull hissing nearby indicated the arrival of another group of shadow wraiths. Percy blinked and shook the loose rainwater from his face as Kendall slowly picked up Clarisse's spear, holding it in both hands and staring at it with his face twisted in anger. Then he gave a raspy yell and spun sideways, swinging the spear and slicing the blade through two wraiths like they weren't even there. He took a step and rammed the butt of the spear against a third's chest and it stumbled backward into another, and he twirled the weapon around with both hands and drove the blade through them both like a shadowy shish kebob. Percy flashed back briefly to seeing Kendall fight with a sword and realized that he wasn't actually uncoordinated, it had just been the wrong weapon for him. The length and stability of the two-handed spear seemed to suit him a heck of a lot better.

By the time Percy finally climbed to his feet the nine wraiths that had approached them were gone. Kendall glared at Clarisse's body and Percy had to force himself not to follow his gaze; he didn't want another reminder.

They were both distracted, however, when a bark of gruff laughter suddenly rang through the air and a bright flash of light announced the arrival of another god—and not one Percy could ever remember being happy to see.

"You," he said in an uncontrollably low voice. "What are you doing here?" He stepped between Clarisse and the god in what could have been perceived as a protective gesture, a glare on his face. As far as he was concerned, if anyone held any blame for her death besides Erebos, it was this god.

"Cool it, Waterboy," Ares replied with his usual mirthless smirk, hands straightening the cuffs of his leather biker jacket. "I know you think you're everyone's favorite, but I ain't here for you." He took a step toward Kendall and clapped a hand on his shoulder, causing Kendall to stumble a bit from the force. "Now that was some impressive weapon work, kid. We just might make somthin' outta you yet."

"Who are _you?_" Kendall asked less-than-kindly, leaning backward in apprehension.

Ares raised an eyebrow. "Hey, how 'bout showin' your old man some respect? I could blast you to dust just by liftin' a finger if the urge struck me."

Kendall blinked and raised his eyebrows and Percy said, "Wait, he's…?" His voice trailed off as he realized that based on the few times he'd met Kendall, this actually made a marginal amount of sense.

As if reading his mind, Ares smirked and said, "See the resemblance, huh, Jackson?" He reached up and lowered his sunglasses, exposing the tongues of fire in his eye sockets, and winked at Kendall, who jumped violently and jerked backward. Ares laughed in response and let go of him.

"Wait, slow down," Percy said, feeling irritated. "You're kidding, right? Your daughter dies and you stop over to have a laugh and congratulate someone else instead of showing any kind of remorse? I mean, I know you're a jerk, but I would've thought even _you_ had a little appreciation for the people who _die_ for you."

Ares's smirk vanished and the fire behind his sunglasses flared. That probably hadn't been the most intelligent thing to say, in retrospect. But the war god's aura was powerful and Percy really wasn't in the best mood to begin with. He was tired of the way they all basically gave their lives for their immortal parents and time after time received nothing in return.

"You think you've got it all figured out, don't you?" Ares said coldly, stepping forward. "You think just 'cause you and Sea-Daddy are big ol' saps means the rest of us operate the same way. Well, newsflash, kid—we don't. My children ain't about mournin' and weepin'. They're about honor and valor. You knew her, yeah? You tell me honestly you really think she'd want us sobbin' over her and hey, I'll arrange the wake myself when this is all over. But you and I both know that ain't the truth."

Percy remained silent, anger fading. The god was right. There was no way Clarisse would react fondly to people crying for her, especially her father. He stepped slowly backward out of the way and watched quietly as Ares dropped to one knee behind Clarisse's head.

"She was one o' the greatest," the god went on, "and I ain't about to insult her by not givin' her the respect she deserves. You want me to show some appreciation?" He put a hand over her face and her body seemed to glow crimson for a short second. When he removed his hand, her eyes were closed. If Percy didn't know better, he'd assume she was sleeping.

"There," Ares said with finality. "Now nothin' will move or harm her 'til the battle's over." He looked up and shot Percy a hard look. "I'm trustin' you to handle it after that."

Something tightened in Percy's chest and he had a fleeting vision of Erebos drawing closer. "We are gonna win… right?" he asked tentatively.

Ares stood and brushed his hands together. "I ain't gonna lie to ya, kid, things aren't all sunshine and rainbows right now. Erebos's copies have us split. We're tryin' to lure him into the light and take him down but the worm has a habit of hidin' in the darkest shadows. What we need is a permanent solution—and the sooner the better. But speakin' of, I'd better get back. Just wanted to make sure _you_," he nodded toward Kendall, "know to keep up the good work. I'll be watchin'." He shot once last look at Clarisse and his mouth seemed to stiffen into a straight line, before he nodded shortly to Percy and vanished in another flash of red light.

After a long few seconds of silence, Kendall said blankly, "So, that was…?"

"Ares," Percy answered. "God of war. Congratulations. I guess you've just been claimed."

"Wait—_what?_"

Percy gave a half-smile and opened his mouth to further explain, but froze when a sudden and crazy thought crossed his mind. "Hiding in the shadows…" he repeated distractedly, prompting Kendall to blink and frown in confusion. What Ares had said brought to mind something Erebos had told him in a dream: _Light has a way of strengthening darkness. _An inner argument started flashing back and forth in his mind, debating an idea. One thing, though, was certain: if things were really as bleak as they seemed, he'd have to hurry.

Without another word, Percy turned heel and started running from the equipment shed wreckage site. "Hey—hold on!" Kendall shouted, following after him. "Where are you going?"

"To find someone from the Hephaestus cabin!" Percy called back as he rushed past a group of people trying to put out a fire near the arena. He slowed his pace and scanned the crowd, but it was mostly Demeter and Dionysus kids. Another group fighting near the forest was made up almost entirely of Romans with a few Athena kids mixed in. Judging by the increased volume of activity, he assumed more of the army that had stormed Olympus must have returned (though it was still far from everyone). There had to be at least _one_ Hephaestus camper around somewhere. That is, unless they'd all been injured or decided to travel on foot.

When he reached the cabins, a bright blaze of orange fire caught his attention and he looked around hopefully. And sure enough, there was Leo, standing beside Cabin 7 and extinguishing the Nightflame that had begun to creep up its outer back wall. When the fire vanished, Leo bent double and rested his hands on his knees, looking up at the cabin as though inspecting it, and Percy took the chance to sprint toward him and shout, "Hey! Leo!"

Leo stood straight and looked around. "Percy?" he said as Percy skidded to a halt in the mud, Kendall still on his heels. Leo glanced toward Kendall and his eyebrows drew together. "And… I have no idea who you are."

"Kendall, son of Ares," Percy introduced him quickly. "Listen—I need your help. You know where the lights are controlled from, right?"

"Of course," he replied with a bewildered frown. "Power relay's down by the fireworks beach just outside the forest. But we already have a bunch of guys there protecting it, if that's what you're worried about—"

"No, I need to get in there. But I might need help."

"Why?"

"Because…" Percy paused, knowing the rest of his sentence probably wasn't about to go over well. But he had a plan and he knew, somehow, that it would work. All he needed was for the others to trust him.

So with a deep breath, he answered firmly, "We've got to shut off the lights."

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><p><strong>Sounds like a good time, heh heh.<strong>

**So since this three-chapter set is like the main final climax, I'm probably gonna space it out a bit. Make it more dramatic, you know. The next chapter is over 8,000 words long (this one is about 6,000, to compare), so when it does eventually show up you'll have plenty to read. How 'bout reviewing in the meantime to let me know what you're thinking? I'll try to be good and respond if needed, haha.**

**Later days, gang!**

**-oMM**


	50. L Percy

**This is it, guys. Longest chapter. Roughly 8,500 words. Believe it or not, this entire chapter was only about a paragraph of my outline. I don't regret the length, though. It's action-y and dramatic, just the way I like 'em, haha.**

**Thanks so much for the reviews! We hit 400! YAY! I'm really excited about that, you don't even know.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>L<br>PERCY**

Leo stared at Percy like he'd just suggested they throw themselves in front of a moving train. "We've got to _what_ now?"

"Listen, I know it sounds crazy," Percy insisted, having expected that reaction. "But you gotta trust me, man, think about it—light doesn't cover up darkness. It moves it aside. Look." He pointed to the shadow between two cabins. "See how it's darker than normal? We're giving Erebos patches of… layered shadows, stronger darkness. He's using it against us. That's why we have to shut down the lights—if we make everything even, he won't have anywhere to hide."

Percy could practically see the gears twisting into place in Leo's head as he considered this. "I… guess it makes sense," he admitted. "In a backwards, whacked-out, lost-your-mind, major bananas kind of way."

"I know. So will you help?"

"You heard what I said. This plan is _nuts_." Leo grinned almost mischievously. "…Which makes it right up my alley. Follow me."

Percy felt a wash of relief as Leo jerked his head downhill-ward before setting off at a run, and he grinned unconsciously himself as he hurried after him, Kendall still on his heels saying, "You guys are kidding, right? Hey! Hold on!"

As they ran, Percy tried to keep his vision focused on the distant beach and not on the battles and fires raging all across the camp. Briefly he wondered how everyone would react once the lights suddenly went out—their first response would probably be panic. He had to hope that at least a few of them would catch on quickly. He was confident that this would provide a good chance for them to corner Erebos. They just had to understand and take it.

Focus tunneled, Percy hardly registered the chorus of shrill screams that became audible as they rounded the eastern edge of the forest, and when Leo ground to a halt he subsequently ran smack into him and almost knocked him over. Leo barely seemed to notice, though, as he'd already shouted "Detour time!" and veered off to the left. Finally paying attention, Percy looked past him and saw that a patch of trees nearby were bathed in Nightflame and a host of frantic dryads were desperately throwing water on the flames in an effort to save them (which was having no effect whatsoever). The sounds of chaos around the camp meant they needed to hurry to the beach, but at the same time Percy knew that Leo's primary job was extinguishing Erebos's Nightflame, and if they didn't do something to save those dryads they'd be completely consumed by the fire. So he and Kendall followed Leo to the forest without another word.

"We can't stop it!" one of the dryads shrieked when they noticed the boys approaching them. "Help us!"

"Get back!" Leo told them. The dryads hurried to comply, terror on their faces as he charged past them. Percy slowed down, the heat of the black and blue fire biting at the air and making it hard to breathe, and hung back, wondering what Leo was planning to do and hoping it wouldn't take long. Leo leapt over a line of Nightflame across the ground and seemingly without any hesitation slammed a hand against each of two burning trees on either side of him, directly into the dark fire. An instant later, bright orange and red flames burst from his arms and swept over the Nightflame, stretching across the charred grass and consuming each tree Erebos's fire was attempting to swallow whole. The dryads screamed and scrambled backward, falling over one another. But then a second later every tongue of orange fire dimmed and faded, leaving the section of the forest burned and worse for wear but decidedly standing and alive.

Immediately Leo dropped his arms and slumped to his knees as the nymphs straightened and looked around in surprise. As one they grinned and squealed gleefully, dancing around in relief. A little alarmed, Percy ducked around them and snatched Leo by the back of the shirt, yanking him to his feet and pulling him around to face him.

"This is wearing you out, isn't it?" he said sharply. "Tone it down, alright? We don't want you getting yourself killed—for real, this time." Leo gave a weak grin, looking exhausted. He held up his arms and shrugged, and as he did so Percy caught a glimpse of the darkened burn marks on his wrists and hands. Surprised, he pointed at them and said, "I thought you were—"

"Immune to fire?" Leo finished for him. "Not this stuff. Don't worry about it, though, I'm fine. I already died once this week and I really don't plan on doing it again. …But never mind that," he added off-handedly as Percy frowned in vague wonder. "Back to Operation Nighttime, yeah?"

"Right," Percy agreed, focus back in-tune. "Let's go."

But again that focus didn't last long. The celebrating dryads' voices suddenly rose in another cacophony of high-pitched screams and Percy spun around to see a fiery explosion of Nightflame spring up from seemingly nowhere. One of the weakened trees was overturned as the eruption threw up the ground and sent it crashing down among its fellows, pulling up the roots of two others around it. Three of the dryads vanished into wisps of green smoke as the rest shrieked and ran, stumbling over each other to get away from the fresh wave of fire. As the explosion died down, Percy could hear a very familiar whispery laughter approaching, and an encompassing anger washed over him as the dark energy in his body shifted and swelled.

"Well, look what we have here," Erebos said as he stepped through the trees, hands gripping his walking cane.

"Aw, great," Leo muttered.

"Is that…?" Kendall asked in a low voice. Percy nodded numbly, eyes trained on the King of Darkness. This was absolutely the last thing they had time for at the moment. He wracked his brain, trying to come up with a way to keep from getting killed before they were able to carry out their plan, but it looked like Erebos wasn't about to sit back and let him think. The god thrust out both arms and a powerful wave of black energy slammed into all three boys, throwing them backward. Kendall's back collided with a tree and Percy and Leo slid hard against the dirt, soaking their clothes and skin with mud.

With a low groan that came out as more of an angry growl, Percy rolled over and leaned up from the ground, glaring at Erebos as the god's cold, empty eye sockets seemed to stare back at him through the darkness. Percy just registered the fact that his sword was in neither his hand nor his pocket when suddenly six silver arrows sped past him in a swift sequence and embedded themselves in Erebos's torso. The god gave a raspy yell and staggered as sparks of white light zigzagged across his body.

"There you are," a calm, female voice sounded, and when Percy looked around for its source his gaze landed on a young girl with long, braided, auburn hair stepping silently through the trees. Her hands gripped a slim, wooden bow, and her pale, silvery eyes stared at Erebos with an aged hardness that easily betrayed her false appearance of youth.

"You think to run from us?" the goddess Artemis said coldly. "I'm afraid you are not like to find it so easy."

"Though easier maybe than getting away with this havoc you're wreaking on my camp," another familiar voice added—a voice that usually made Percy cringe in displeasure.

"Mr. D?" he said incredulously, staring in shock as their very own camp director stepped up beside Artemis, arms folded across his protruding belly. "What… You're helping us?"

Mr. D blinked and looked around, frowning down at Percy and the others as though just realizing they were there. "Yes, Johnson," he drawled in his usual sarcastic tone. "Contrary to popular belief I _do_ care what becomes of this ridiculous place. Did you see what he's done to the fields and forest? Consider the line officially crossed."

"Oh, so it's not crossing the line when he attacks the campers, but as soon as he goes after the _vegetation_—"

"He comes!" Artemis interrupted as she snatched an arrow from her quiver and leapt forward, dodging a thin streak of solid darkness that had been thrown her way. She landed in a crouch, nocking and loosing two arrows in rapid succession. The first one missed its target, but the second stuck fast in Erebos's shoulder. The same instant, Mr. D raised his hands and a mess of twisting vines burst from the muddy ground, reaching for Erebos like long fingers. As they wound around him, he reached out a hand and a thin blade of dark obsidian—not unlike the sword Nyx used against Percy and Jason in Death Valley—materialized in his grip. He sliced through some of the vines, but another of Artemis's arrows struck his hand, forcing him to drop the sword. Mr. D's vines snaked around Erebos and wound tighter and tighter, until the King of Darkness roared angrily and dissolved into thick, black smoke.

Percy rose slowly to his feet, staring stunned as the vines dropped limply to the forest floor. Had that actually just happened? Was Erebos… gone?

But then Artemis sighed and Mr. D cursed in ancient Greek. "Another copy," he grumbled, shaking his head.

"Copy?" Leo repeated.

"Erebos has divided his essence," Artemis explained. She turned toward them, but her silver eyes continued to scan their surroundings. "He has doppelgangers spread across the camp. None of them possess the extent of his true power, but they've proven troublesome enough regardless. We've found it difficult to discern the difference until we get close."

"So we're fighting an army of this guy," Leo summed up wryly. "Great. I love a challenge."

"That's the problem with you kids," Mr. D said sourly, rolling his eyes. "Everything's a game, isn't it? An adventure. What does it matter who or what gets destroyed along the way so long as you can have your fun?" A bit startled at the accusation, Leo opened his mouth to respond before Mr. D cut him off. "Save your breath, Lenny, I know for a fact you haven't got a serious, responsible bone in your body."

Leo blinked and shut his mouth, looking offended but apparently having the sense not to start an argument with a god—which Percy found impressive as it was something he'd never been particularly apt at. He suspected the battle was having an adverse effect on Mr. D's already-usually-foul mood, and provoking him in his present state was probably a good way to ensure that you woke up the next morning as a porpoise.

Kendall, apparently, hadn't gotten the same memo, though. He eyed Mr. D's tiger-print shirt and asked shortly, "Who are you supposed to be?" Percy cringed and tried to shoot him an _I-wouldn't-if-I-were-you_ look, but he wasn't paying attention.

Mr. D regarded Kendall dryly for a short moment before turning and giving Percy a pointed look. "I see you've kept the new recruits educated in our absence," he said with heavy sarcasm. Percy glared at him.

"Camp director," he told Kendall. "Mr. D. Also known as Dio—" Mr. D cleared his throat loudly and Percy rolled his eyes. "_Lord_ Dionysus. You know, the wine dude."

Mr. D looked highly affronted at once again being referred to as 'the wine dude,' but before he could act Kendall said skeptically, "You're a god?" Mr. D sighed dramatically and glanced upward. Kendall's eyes slid over Artemis and he said, "And… You're one of those hunters, right?"

Artemis's eyes twinkled and a small, amused smile appeared on her face. "One of them, yes. I am Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Pleasure to meet you, son of Ares." Kendall raised his eyebrows in mild surprise and Artemis turned toward Percy and Leo. "That aside, what were you three doing down here? The remainder of your army has taken to protecting the camp structures left standing. I know you, Percy Jackson. I would not think you the type to place yourself far from those in danger."

Percy exchanged a glance with Leo, who shrugged, before carefully explaining to the two gods his plan to cloak the camp in darkness and use it to draw Erebos into the open.

"A risky endeavor," Artemis said thoughtfully, "but not one without merit. Very well. We will spread the word to the others to prepare them."

"And do move it along, please—Perry, Lenny, and… whoever you are," Mr. D added. "The sooner we're rid of this egomaniacal usurper the better."

As the two of them disappeared into the forest, Kendall retrieved Clarisse's spear and said shortly, "These gods of yours are, uh… not what I expected."

"Tell me about it," Percy agreed. "Let's get moving."

They met no other opposition on their way down to the beach, save for the team of guards appointed to protect the boathouse in which the power relay was contained. Percy and Leo sent them away up the hill with assurances that they had a plan and they should focus on finding others who needed help. Reluctantly the five campers left them alone, and Leo led the way into the empty, one-room boathouse.

"Here it is," he said, holding his arms out toward a brand-new fuse box that had been installed against the south wall. He undid the latch and the casing swung open to reveal an array of black switches labeled with different areas of the camp. A huge, red toggle lever hung beside them, bearing no label.

"You're really gonna go through with this?" Kendall asked grimly.

"We have to," Percy replied. "You heard what Ares said. Erebos is using the darkened shadows. They're making him more powerful. This might be our only chance to change that and corner him." He took a deep breath. "Listen, guys, once we do this there's a good chance he'll come after us. I'm sorry for dragging you into this. Just make sure you're ready, okay?"

"Man, you didn't drag anyone anywhere," Leo insisted, waving a hand. "Erebos dragged us all into this the day he declared war on our camp. Trust us, we're just as ready to take him down as you are. And just as ready to do whatever it takes."

Percy grinned. "Good to hear. In that case—" He broke off as a loud explosion sounded nearby and the ground beneath them quavered. At the sound of screams, Percy turned and rushed back to the boathouse door, pushing it open and looking outside. He'd been expecting Erebos to find them, but what he hadn't been counting on was another encounter before they had a chance to carry out their plan. But sure enough, there he was—whether another copy or the real thing, Percy had no idea. Either way, the King of Darkness had just collapsed the southern half of the mess hall in a blast of fire and was heading toward the beach, shoving aside the few campers still standing after the attack.

"What's going on?" Kendall asked sharply in a tone that suggested he already knew the answer.

"He's coming," Percy answered. Whipping around, he shouted, "Leo, shut them down! Now!" Quick to comply, Leo darted forward and grabbed the red toggle switch with both hands, yanking it out and downward. It creaked heavily as he slammed it flat against the compartment, and right away the small light bulb above them flicked out and they were thrown into darkness.

A chorus of distant screams sounded immediately from outside as the same happened throughout the camp. Eyes quickly adjusting to the blackness, Percy pulled out his sword and asked, "Is this the only way to control the lights?"

"Yeah," Leo replied at once. "All the power was re-routed down here when we changed the electricity source and installed the hydraulic converters. If anybody wants the lights back on, this is where they've got to do it."

"Good." Percy quickly uncapped Riptide and thrust it forward, driving the blade into the fuse box. He and Leo threw their arms over their heads as sparks flew from the panel and the relay burst in a cloud of electric smoke.

"Okay," Leo said in a voice of forced calm, "I understand why you did that and seeing as we're in a delicate situation right now I'm going to let it go. But you do realize this means we're gonna have to _completely_ rewire the entire place when this is over, right?"

"Sorry. I just don't want Erebos getting any ideas. You said whatever it takes, didn't you?"

Leo opened his mouth to argue but hesitated. Then he sighed in admission. "Yeah, yeah, alright. Let's just get on with it."

They hurried out of the boathouse in time to see Erebos shove three campers down beneath a wall of darkness and set his eyeless sights on the three of them. Looking around briefly, Percy noticed that their plan had worked to a degree—the lights he could see before had all gone dark, causing anything farther than a few yards away to disappear in the even shadows.

"So this darkness is a gift from you, is it, Percy?" Erebos said in his cold, whispery voice. "I thank you. That light of yours was getting annoying. I knew you would come to see things my way." Despite his words, there was an anger on his face that he couldn't hope to hide; it told them that the loss of light wasn't that great of a gift to him at all.

Satisfied that he'd been right, Percy shot back, "Good luck finding a place to hide now."

With a growl, Erebos shot toward them with both arms outstretched. The three boys dove in different directions to dodge the twin orbs of dark energy thrown in their direction. One fizzled to nothingness as the other collided with the west side of the boathouse, collapsing a wall and half the roof. Percy gripped his sword and scrambled back to his feet, turning around and fully expecting Erebos to head after him.

He wasn't disappointed. The King of Darkness had drawn an obsidian blade identical to that of his copy and was already swinging it in a deadly arc toward Percy with a cold sneer on his face. Percy threw up his blade and barely blocked the strike, ducking beneath it for good measure. He threw his weight against the sword and shoved Erebos away from him, but the god was quick. A shadowy rope shot from his free hand and wrapped around Percy's ankle, pulling his left leg out from under him and knocking him to his back in the mud. As the rope vanished, Erebos swiftly brought down his blade and Percy threw himself to the side, rolling just out of the way and narrowly missing being impaled. Then Erebos lifted his head and spun quickly to the side, causing the bladed spear in Kendall's hands behind him to miss his back toward which it had been aimed and instead draw a shallow slice across his side. Black smoke floated from the wound, and Percy wondered for a brief second if that was some strange protection the King of Darkness had in place or if it meant that this was only another of his copies.

As Percy scrambled to his feet, Erebos thrust out an arm and threw another orb of dark energy toward Kendall. It struck him in the chest and threw him to the ground. Satisfied, Erebos turned and once again set his eyes on Percy, until a bright blaze of orange fire slammed him in the right shoulder. The sword vanished from his hand and the snarl on his face deepened. He spun and counterattacked with his own black and blue fire, which Leo evaded by ducking low and rolling sideways. Percy took the opportunity to rush in and aim an attack at the King of Darkness, but Erebos was not easily surprised. He twisted around and instead of impaling him Riptide barely sliced his arm. Percy leapt backward in anticipation of another attack, but Erebos wasn't holding a weapon. He swung his arm in a half-circle and a thin stream of Nightflame shot from thin air like a heat jet. It slammed Percy in the shoulder and he staggered backward from the force. It was after that that he registered the burning heat that signified that his sleeve was on fire.

Eyes widening in momentary panic, he cried out and tried instinctively to beat out the flames. Naturally, that did nothing, as a small part of his brain insisted that he knew this was no normal fire. He had a brief, fleeting vision of his body being burned to a blackened crisp before a nearby voice yelled, "Hold still, this is gonna hurt!" and he felt a firm grip on his left arm that was followed immediately by a flash of red light. The Nightflame burned bright yellow for a split second and vanished, leaving a warm, stinging ache stretching across Percy's skin.

"Thanks," he said a bit breathlessly as Leo let go of his arm and offered a quick smile in response.

"No big. Can't say I've never considered setting you on fire before."

"What's that supposed to—?"

"ARGH!"

Percy and Leo whipped around to see that Kendall had managed to drive the blade of his spear through Erebos's thigh, sending more black smoke into the air. He yanked it out and ducked the god's counterstrike as the obsidian sword reappeared in his hand, before leaping backward and putting some distance between them. Erebos swung his blade through empty air and an arc of Nightflame sprang from it and shot toward Kendall. Leo darted forward as flames sprang up all down his arms, coating them in half a second. He swung them in an upward arc over his head, sending twin lines of fire forward at lightning speed. One intercepted the Nightflame aimed at Kendall and the two blasts exploded in midair, and the other slammed Erebos in the chest and forced him backward.

"This isn't going so hot," Percy pointed out as he and Leo hurried up beside Kendall. "We need some help."

"You mean godly help?" Leo guessed between heavy breaths, looking considerably worn out. "Wouldn't be unwelcome. But how are we supposed to find some without getting—" He broke off as a thin stream of solid shadow suddenly wrapped around his stomach from behind. In a split second his eyes lowered and widened and he'd barely said "Uh-oh" before the energy yanked him backward and heaved him into the air. It threw him against the east wall of the boathouse and the remainder of the structure collapsed from the impact, burying him beneath it.

"Leo!" Percy shouted as Erebos called out, "That's enough of that fire!" He barely gave them any more time to act after that. With a whispery growl he darted toward them, black flames shooting over his obsidian sword and encasing the thin blade. Percy and Kendall dove to either side and tried for a simultaneous counterattack. Kendall swung his spear two-handed around his body and crouched down, aiming for Erebos's legs as Percy struck straight forward. Erebos called a solid wall of darkness to block Kendall's attack and bent backward to evade Percy's before spinning around and swinging his sword at Percy's back.

As Percy threw himself backward to avoid the flaming blade, Erebos said in a cold, quiet voice, "The black moon is not yet fully mature. You may desire death, as your foolish challenge suggests, but the time is not yet nigh. By all means, though, keep fighting. I see no reason not to detain you and have you watch as I slaughter the worms you call friends."

"No!" Percy shot back defiantly, driving a wild strike toward Erebos that was easily deflected. "I'm done giving in to you! And you're done hurting the people I care about! This ends now!"

He lunged for Erebos again and feinted to the right, briefly distracting the god and following up with a quick spin and jab left. He landed another shallow, smoky cut on Erebos's side before the god returned with a swing of his sword. Percy blocked the strike, feeling the heat of the Nightflame so close to him, and aimed a kick at the god's legs. Erebos dodged with godly speed and flipped his sword in his hand before ramming the hilt against the back of Percy's right shoulder and compromising his balance. He stumbled forward and dropped to his hands and knees, pain shooting down his arm.

Dodging and knocking Kendall aside, Erebos laughed. "I told you, boy! The time has not come! I wish not to harm you yet, but if you force my hand—"

His voice was suddenly overcome as a great wave of water from Long Island Sound rushed rapidly from the shoreline and hurled itself at them all, momentarily blinding Percy as the force shoved him yards across the mud. As the water fell limp and soaked into the ground, he rolled onto his back and pushed himself up on his elbows, gasping to retrieve the air that had been knocked from his lungs. A quick glance around showed him that Erebos and Kendall as well had been thrown off their feet and were attempting to regain their footing. He only had a second to take the sight in, though, because his attention was almost immediately pulled to the host of newcomers drawing forward across the beach—the host led by his very angry-looking father.

"As he said," Poseidon spoke in a low voice. "This, Erebos, ends now."

"Brother!" another voice called from the group of armed and armored Cyclopes behind the sea god, and a minor commotion rose as Tyson pushed through them to the front. He lumbered up to Percy and slid to a crouch. "Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine," Percy said in a small voice, a bit stunned at the sudden arrival. "Fine—Tyson, what are you doing here?"

"Chiron asked for help," Tyson explained as he gripped Percy's arm and pulled him to his feet. "So we came to help!" He glanced to his left and shouted suddenly, "Look out!" before shoving Percy back to the ground and shifting sideways, blocking the burning blade of Erebos's sword against his shield. The Nightflame surged and spread over the top edge of the shield and with a yelp Tyson quickly unfastened it and threw it down.

"Tyson!" Percy yelled as he scrambled back to his feet, regaining his grip on his sword. The same instant, however, the wind seemed to pick up and a gust of falling rain blew sideways, knocking into Erebos and causing him to stagger backward. He spun around and thrust out his arms, calling a wave of darkness that forced back a number of the advancing Cyclopes. He missed Poseidon completely, though, as the sea god dodged around him and swung his trident in a deadly arc that would have taken Erebos's head off had he not bent backward at the last second. Erebos waved his arms, calling an arc of burning Nightflame, but again Poseidon swung his weapon and a thin, jet-like stream of water rushed up from the Sound and intercepted the fire, causing both to explode in a rush of hot, black steam. As Erebos ducked, Poseidon flung his trident like a javelin and its point impaled the King of Darkness in the chest, driving through him like a bullet. He roared in anger and, just like the copy in the woods, dissolved into black smoke.

"Again," Poseidon said with a scowl, glaring down at the ground and shaking his head.

Percy swallowed hard, trying to steady his nerves. "So… that really _was_ another doppelganger."

"Yes," Poseidon agreed distractedly. "No telling how many more he's got. But until we find a way to track down the real one…" He shook his head again and looked up at Percy, meeting his eyes for the first time that night. "I hear it was your idea to turn out the lights. A bit unorthodox, but the effect is definitely beneficial. Well done." He gave a small smile and Percy blinked in mild surprise, not sure what to say in response. Beside him, Tyson grinned and gave him a thumbs-up.

Expression growing serious, Poseidon stepped toward Percy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Listen to me, Percy. I know you're aware of this, but Erebos is after _you_. Yes, he wants us defeated and yes, he isn't against seeing this place destroyed. But his goal tonight is you. You need to go somewhere safe, hide from him until we're able to locate his real body and defeat him."

Percy felt his jaw tighten defiantly. "But Dad, I—"

"I know you want to help," his father interrupted. "But not this time, Percy. If he gets you, it's over. And we _cannot_ let that happen. _I _will not let that happen."

Frustrated but realizing that any argument would be futile, Percy sighed. "Fine," he said stiffly. "Just… You're gonna save this place, right? I mean, the gods, they… They do care, don't they?"

Again Poseidon smiled, however small and brief it was. "Of course we do." He squeezed Percy's shoulder and dropped his hand, before turning and signaling to the Cyclops battalion behind him. "Good luck, son," he added with a nod. Then he waved and retreated up the hill, just like that. Tyson waited long enough to give Percy a bone-crushing hug and make him promise to be careful before following.

"That was your father, right?" Kendall asked as he approached Percy from the side. "The water god?"

Percy nodded, still glaring at the darkness into which Poseidon had disappeared. How could the god just show up out of nowhere, order him to hide until the battle was over, and expect him to obey like a good kid? Okay, so maybe he was right about how bad it would be if Erebos carried out his plan. But if the King of Darkness was after him, then that made this whole thing partly his fault. And more than that, it made it his responsibility. But what could he do about it?

"You know, he's right about one thing," Kendall spoke up after a few seconds of silence, and Percy turned to him with a questioning frown. "Fighting these copies isn't getting us anywhere. We've got to lure the real guy out into the open."

"Yeah, but how? The whole purpose of dividing himself has got to be to keep everybody busy until the black moon rises. He has no reason to come out ahead of time, right? I mean, the only thing we know he wants is…" Percy's voice trailed off as his brain started putting two and two together.

Kendall obviously came to the same conclusion at the same time, because he turned sharp eyes on Percy and finished, "You. He'd come out for you. You're the one he wants."

"I can draw him out," Percy agreed, mind racing. "If I'm alone—If I go somewhere… secluded, somewhere he thinks he can get a good shot at me. When the time comes, he'll come after me. He's got to."

Kendall's eyebrows drew together. "You do realize how dangerous that'll be, right?"

"Yeah, I do," Percy admitted. "It's a terrible plan. But at the moment, it's the only one we've got. It's just…" His eyes traveled up the hill toward where he knew his friends and family were fighting for their lives, sideways to the ruins of the boathouse from which Leo had never resurfaced. In his mind he saw Erebos's copies wreaking havoc and his urge to help anyone he could swelled inside him.

Following Percy's gaze with his good eye, Kendall's expression seemed to harden. "I'll find the fire guy," he promised. "We'll do what we can. Stop worrying about everybody else like it's your problem. We can take care of ourselves, okay?"

Percy met his eyes and nodded, feeling a smile tug at his mouth. "Okay," he said steadily. "You got it. Just—one thing. Don't tell anybody about this, okay? Especially my dad."

Kendall snorted. "Yeah, like I'm in a hurry to track that guy down and tell him you're disobeying an order."

Percy chuckled. "See? You're getting the hang of this whole demigod thing."

He gave a reassuring grin and turned to leave, stopping when Kendall called out, "Jackson!" Percy spun around as Kendall said seriously, "Be careful."

"You too," he responded, inexplicably thinking of Clarisse and fighting back a momentary wash of loss. Then, shaking his head clear, he turned away and headed off at a run up the hill.

He had no idea where he was going to go. The only pseudo-plan he had was to run until he found a relatively deserted part of the camp and wait there for Erebos to find him. The most difficult facet of that, however, was resisting the desire to run to every disaster area he passed. Hephaestus had evidently been busy with the Nightflame, as much of the structures Percy saw from a distance looked burned and worse for wear but the fire had since died down. The pavilion over the mess hall was half-collapsed, and he could see Thalia and a number of her hunters fighting off a horde of those shadow-men in and around the wreckage. Coach Hedge was with them, dashing back and forth and mercilessly bludgeoning anything he could reach with his silver baseball bat—including, a few times, a camper or hunter. In the distance to the east, he could see the top of the climbing wall in flames and fighters on pegasi circling it, whether trying to put it out or battling something he couldn't tell. He passed the cabins, most of which were still standing, and caught a glimpse of Grover frantically playing his pipes and causing the wet grass to grow at an alarming rate and twist around another of Erebos's copies—at least Percy hoped it was a copy. The god tore through the grass and thrust an orb of black energy at Grover, and Percy could tell at once that he wouldn't be able to dodge it in time. He skidded to a halt and felt his heart sink for a brief second before Nico appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Grover around the waist, dragging him out of harm's way. After that, Percy forced himself to look away and keep going. The best thing he could do for his friends now would be to find Erebos and stop him. Delaying any longer wouldn't help anyone.

As he reached the canoe lake, he was forced to another stop when something suddenly tackled him from the side. As he and the thing were pulled to the ground and rolled over one another, he realized it wasn't alone. Six of Erebos's shadow-wraiths had evidently been having some sort of get-together at the lakeside and he'd just unknowingly stumbled into it.

Percy climbed hurriedly to his feet and ducked the swing of a shadowy blade aimed somewhere near his left ear. He gripped his own sword and swung it through the wraith's legs, causing it to let out a whispery wail and burst into smoke. Then something hard hit the back of his head and he stumbled to his knees, cursing as his eyes watered insistently from the sudden pain. He shot a wild jab over his shoulder but missed whatever mark had been there. A flash of movement to his left caught his attention and he dodged instinctively to the right, hearing the swish of a blade passing over his head. Then, inexplicably, the wraith holding said blade exploded in a rush of wind and a very solid hand grabbed Percy by the arm.

"Percy, are you okay?" an unmistakable voice demanded.

"Hey, Annabeth," Percy responded with a grin, blinking the stars from his vision and allowing his girlfriend to help him stand. "I'm good. You?"

"Fine, all things considered," Annabeth said as she turned sideways and swiftly stabbed another wraith in the gut, prompting it to vanish with a howl. She ducked low and threw her knife past Percy as he drove his sword over her head and through the neck of the figure behind her. The final wraith approached from his right and he swung Riptide through its torso in one fluid motion, clearing the opposition.

Having retrieved her knife, Annabeth stood straight and sighed heavily, pushing a lock of wet hair from her face. She had a few cuts and bruises and, like him, was practically covered in mud and rainwater, but otherwise looked unhurt. "I'm getting _really_ tired of those things," she said ruefully.

"Yeah, same here," Percy agreed. He met Annabeth's eyes and felt his wry smile fade as vivid memories of earlier that day flashed through his mind. He saw himself dreaming of his friends' deaths, lying to Annabeth, leaving her when she'd fallen asleep and sneaking out of the camp, surrendering himself to Erebos. In the confusion of the gods' waking at the Olympian palace a few hours ago, they hadn't had much opportunity to discuss the ordeal. But when her gray eyes darkened as she looked at him, he knew she was seeing and thinking the same things.

"You gave up," she said abruptly in a brittle voice, apparently forgetting all about the battles going on around them. "How could you do that?"

"…I'm not gonna say I'm sorry," Percy replied carefully. "I don't regret it. I can't. I did what I did to save you and everybody else, you know that. But… to be honest, I'm kind of glad you came and found me." He gave her a weak smile. "You were right. We… We have a better chance at winning this war together."

She glared silently at him for a long few seconds, before letting out her breath in an exasperated huff and stepping forward, wrapping him in a tight embrace. He hugged her back and tried to force the memories of watching her die mid-dream out of his head.

"So what are you planning now?" she asked when they separated. "I know that look. That's your 'planning something crazy' look."

"Somebody has to draw out Erebos's real form," he explained, knowing now wasn't the time to lie to her again. "He's after me already. I figured if I go somewhere alone by the time the black moon fully rises, it might lure him into the open."

Annabeth frowned thoughtfully. "And then what, you fight him? By yourself?"

"More like I keep him busy until some help shows up. Hopefully without dying."

"That's a terrible plan."

"No arguments here. I said the same thing, actually."

She sighed shortly, working her jaw back and forth. "But it _does_ make sense, I guess. And I'm sure there won't be any talking you out of it. You know where you're going?"

"Not exactly."

"Then I'd recommend the amphitheater. I was there earlier with some other members of my cabin and we pretty much cleared the place out. It seems to have avoided the fire damage, too."

"Sounds good to me."

"Alright, then we'd better get moving. Moonrise isn't too long from now."

Percy raised an eyebrow, not surprised by her matter-of-fact tone. "'We'?" he repeated.

She gave him a pointed look. "You said you're going alone, right? So naturally that means I'll be going with you."

Shaking his head, Percy couldn't help a grin. He wasn't about to argue with her. He _would_ need some help, after all. "Naturally," he replied with a shrug, and Annabeth smiled and led the way past the canoe lake, starting to close the distance between them and the amphitheater.

As she'd promised, the amphitheater was deserted when they arrived a few minutes later. A few of the benches in the stands had been broken in and splintered wood littered the lower floor, but there was a distinct lack of flame damage and no campers or enemies were present. As Percy and Annabeth stepped slowly down the stairs, he looked around absently and tried to ignore the uncomfortable squirming in his gut. So far he'd fought two of Erebos's copies, and hadn't been able to beat either one of them without the help of a god or two. Hopefully once the King of Darkness's real form showed up, he and Annabeth would be able to survive long enough to either draw him toward the rest of the camp or create enough of a commotion that some of the other gods came to investigate.

"Hey," Annabeth said quietly, sliding her hand into his as they reached the center of the lower floor. "I told you, didn't I? We're gonna get through this."

Her tone suggested that she knew exactly what he was thinking, like she often did. He smiled and opened his mouth to respond, but a low, familiar voice cut in, "You sound so sure." Percy and Annabeth turned to see the shadows behind them shift and solidify into the form of the god of darkness, who stepped forward and regarded them with a cold smile, smoke swirling in his empty eye sockets. "Allow me to help that."

Percy felt a sudden and twisting pain as something in his chest tightened—Erebos's darkness leaping with anticipation. "It's you," he realized without a doubt. He was glad his plan had worked, but a little alarmed that it had worked so quickly. "You're the real one."

"Indeed," Erebos agreed, holding out his hands in what could be perceived as a gesture of welcome. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you say you were through 'giving in' to me? And yet, here you are, delivering yourself to me again—and just in time for the black moon. How kind."

"I wasn't lying," Percy said coolly. "I'm going to stop you."

"Oh, are you? And how do you plan on doing that, powerless as you are?" He reached a hand out slowly and darkness began to swirl around his fingers, and as if in answer the darkness inside Percy shifted and writhed. He gritted his teeth and flinched visibly, and Erebos's smirk widened. "See?" he said smugly. "Your very essence defies you. Your darkness is my darkness. It longs for me. All that remains is for the darkness to destroy you—then your power will be mine!"

Apparently, the god was through with banter after that. His obsidian sword materialized in one hand as he swept the other in an arc, hurling a wave of solid, black shadow at Percy and Annabeth. They dodged to either side and Percy quickly lost sight of Annabeth in the confusion as Erebos began throwing attack after attack at them. He evaded an orb of black energy and tried to strike back, but Erebos was faster. He swung his sword with insane speed and Percy barely deflected the would-be fatal blow, jerking backward as the blade sliced across the side of his face. He ducked under an arc of Nightflame that instead singed the tips of his hair and aimed a low jab at the god's legs, seeing Annabeth sneak toward his back. But Erebos wasn't fooled. He kicked Percy's arm, knocking his strike off-course, and spun sideways, thrusting out his arm and causing a wave of energy to slam into Annabeth and hurl her skyward. She cried out as she was thrown toward the highest stand, crashing through it and out of sight.

"Annabeth!" Percy yelled loudly. He leapt backward and drew back his arm, then flung Riptide at Erebos. The blade stuck fast in the god's chest and he roared in pain, and Percy immediately turned and vaulted up the stands toward where Annabeth had disappeared. He climbed through the wreckage to ground level and found her pulling herself out of a pile of broken wood with a pained grimace.

"Hey," he said, reaching out to help her. "You okay?"

She winced. "More or less. But we need a plan. We can't keep this up forever."

"I know. I can sense the darkness strengthening him. It's this weird bond we've got—I feel like it's only a matter of time before he manages to use it against me."

"The bond…" Annabeth repeated, looking troubled. Percy realized he hadn't fully explained the situation back on Mount Olympus and was thinking of doing just that when she said suddenly, "Percy, I… There's something I should've told you before. The night you fought the drakons… Piper had a dream. About you and Erebos."

"What?" Percy said in surprise, feeling a spark of nervousness. Why hadn't he heard about this until now?

"We figured out about the bond," she explained, avoiding his eyes. "We guessed that Erebos wanted to kill you to finish what they started during the eclipse."

He tried to swallow the irritation that had started to swell inside him. "And you didn't think it was important to _tell me?_"

"I was worried you'd do something reckless," Annabeth argued in a slightly defensive tone. "I made the decision to keep it a secret because I knew exactly how you'd react. I hoped we'd be able to decipher Rachel's warning before it came to you giving yourself up. But I…" She sighed and dropped her gaze, now looking ashamed. "I couldn't do it. I was too distracted to focus on what really mattered."

Taking a deep breath, Percy said finally, "Look, it's okay. It's not too late, right? We still have time to figure out what it is we're supposed to do. And, well… I could really use that brain of yours right now."

Annabeth looked up and gave a small smile. "Okay… Well, Rachel said 'the blood-stained bond your light must break', right? So… we have to break it with some kind of light. The question is, what does that mean? I don't think it's literal light, because we had lights on before and all they seemed to do was make his darkness stronger. Which means it's got to be something figurative…"

She fell silent in thought and for what felt like the millionth time in recent days Percy wracked his brain for the right memory or clue to this puzzle. _'The blood-stained bond your light must break.'_ The blood-stained bond bit was clear enough. But the light… What did it mean, 'his light'? He'd never really been the most happy or motivational of his friends, so it couldn't mean sheer positive willpower. But what else could it be?

He glanced up at Annabeth, at the worried, thoughtful expression on her face, and suddenly it made sense.

"It's you."

She looked up and blinked. "What?"

"My light. It's you." She raised an eyebrow skeptically and he shook his head. "Look, I know it sounds stupid, but trust me. Every time I've been down or messed up—confused, lost, scared, anything—you've been the one to bring me back, knock some sense into me, do whatever it takes to make me feel better. Not just since the war began—it's always been like that. And this time is exactly the same." His memory again flashed back to the prophecy and something else seemed to fall into place. "'Son of the Storm-bringer, doomed to fail'," he recited. "That's what it means—I thought I could stop this, but I'm not the one that's supposed to defeat Erebos. You are."

Her eyebrows knitted together and her eyes widened just barely. "But… Percy, I—"

"Annabeth, you're the only one that can break this bond. I know it. It has to be you."

She breathed out shortly, studying his eyes for a long minute. "Okay, well… How? It's not like there's a rope tying you two together and I can just slice through it. We've tried fighting him, running from him… Nothing's worked so far. What else can we do?"

Percy didn't have an answer. He was confident that he was right about Annabeth being the person meant to finish this. But as for _how_ exactly… The Oracle's voice rang in his mind, completing her cryptic warning: _'The blood-stained bond your light must break, a death through death the sun to wake.'_ He really wished she could be a bit clearer for once. Was it too much to ask for some straight answers? This was actually a matter of life and death, and they didn't even have—

His train of thought ground to halt when an idea formed and quickly blanketed everything else. It was a horrible idea—a stupid, crazy, potentially-disastrous idea possibly worse than any he'd ever had before, which was really saying something given his bad-idea track record. _'The blood-stained bond', 'death through death', 'light must break', 'tonight when you die in shadow', 'all that remains is for the darkness to destroy you', 'your power will be mine'._ The more he thought about it, the more every piece, every clue, every word Erebos had ever told him fell together and backed the theory. As numb acceptance started to replace the apprehension, the darkness inside him twisted and turned painfully as if in protest. And that, more than anything else, convinced him that this had to be the answer.

"Maybe we just have to try harder," Annabeth was saying, though Percy had temporarily tuned her out. "You say you're stronger with me, so maybe if you distract him—"

"Annabeth."

"—then I'm sure I'll be able to find an opening and… I don't know, stab him? Will that work on a god?"

"_Annabeth_," he said more insistently, and this time she paused and turned to face him. Staring at the ground, Percy said in a slightly stiff voice, "I know what to do."

She frowned in surprise. "Really? What?"

When Percy raised his head, Annabeth looked momentarily taken aback by the grim, serious expression on his face. He knew she wouldn't like what he was about to say. But just as surely he knew that it was right, and that it was the only way for them to defeat Erebos once and for all.

There was no turning back anymore. Not after they'd come so far.

Throat tightening almost to the extent of suffocation, Percy told Annabeth gravely, "You have to kill me."

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><p><strong>Heh. Anybody see that coming? Yes? No? I swear, prophecy is hard. I've tried to allude to my plans throughout this entire thing without giving anything obviously away. It's been making me crazy, haha.<strong>

**So it'll probably be another week until my next update. I've got a mind to let the anticipation stew a bit because I'm evil like that. How 'bout a review? What do you think I'm gonna do? Think I'm gonna go through with it? Guess we'll find out next week!**

**Only 4 chapters left! :( Later days, guys!**

**-oMM**


	51. LI Percy

**I've got a particular goal with this chapter. Let's see if I can accomplish it.**

**Thanks for the reviews! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>LI<br>PERCY**

For the first time, all expression vanished from Annabeth's face. It was like her brain had completely shut down.

After a tense silence, she gave a very forced half-smile and said weakly, "This really isn't the time for jokes, Percy."

"It's not a joke," Percy argued. "You remember what Rachel said. 'A death through death the sun to wake.' I don't know why, but I can feel it. It's this bond. He said that if he kills me with darkness, it finishes the spell and my power goes straight to him. I think if we do it with light, it'll work in reverse. I can't explain it, but I know this is right. If you kill me, it'll kill him. 'A death through death.' Erebos's death through mine."

Annabeth's gray eyes grew steadily darker and more intense as her mind seemed to work through this explanation. Percy did his best to appear calm and sure, even though inside he was terrified. He'd stared death in the face dozens of times, but he usually didn't have all that long to think about it ahead of time. Now he was making a conscious decision to give his life in an effort to end a war that had ravaged Camp Half-Blood and turned so much of it to ruins. He didn't have to waste time deciding whether or not it was worth it—that was something he was one hundred percent sure of. But even that wasn't enough to totally stamp out the fear.

"I don't care," Annabeth said stonily, a glare in her eyes. "I'm _not_ going to kill you. There's another way. There's got to be."

"We've tried going against prophecies and warnings before," Percy pointed out wryly. "They always have a way of coming around to bite us in the tail."

Annabeth gave a frustrated sigh and demanded, "What if it were me, huh? If I asked you, would you kill me?"

Percy shrugged, her tone somehow helping him relax a little. This could have been any ordinary conversation between the two of them. "Probably not," he admitted. "But that's my fatal flaw, remember? Besides, you're stronger than me. You always have been."

Annabeth shook her head. "Not this time."

Now it was Percy's turn to sigh shortly in frustration. They didn't have a lot of time, and he needed a way to make Annabeth understand that this was what they had to do—that stopping the war was more important than anything else. "Look…" he began, stepping toward her and rubbing the back of his neck. "Our lives haven't exactly been easy."

She crossed her arms and snorted half-heartedly. "You can say that again."

He gave an admissive half-smile. "But… even after everything we've been through, look at all the great stuff we have. We've got… the best family anyone could ask for. People that love us—that would fight for us, die for us. We've got a home, a place we belong. And we have each other." He grabbed both her hands in his, sliding his fingers over hers. "We got to know what—what this feels like. And I wouldn't trade this—any of it—for the easiest life out there." The corners of her mouth turned up in a small smile, and he knew this was a sentiment she shared. "Our life… It may have been hard. But you know what else it was? It was _real_, and it was _ours_. And now, this war is trying to take all that away. Everything we've done, everything we've worked for." He squeezed her hands, again remembering his last dream and watching her die. "Everything we love. And I… I don't want to let that happen if I have a chance to stop it. And if I know you at all… I don't think you do, either. I know this is the hardest thing I could ever, ever, in a million years ask you to do. But it's also the most important. I need you to trust me on this. Please."

For the longest few seconds Percy had ever experienced, Annabeth stared into his eyes, a solemn, heartbreaking understanding making its way across her face. It was like she was reading his mind like she often teased she could—like she could finally see and believe that this really was the right thing to do, however much it would hurt them both. For the good of so many other people, they had to do whatever was necessary.

She didn't respond right away, though their time was running out. Percy heard Erebos call his name from below and when he chanced a glance past the ruined stands down into the amphitheater he saw that the shadows had begun to swirl and thicken, gathering around the King of Darkness as he drew power from the black moon and prepared his final strike. It was now or never.

Percy looked back at his best friend and gave her a weak grin. "Come on, Wise Girl," he said with as much sure finality as he could muster. "We've saved the world before. Let's do it again."

Her chin quavered just barely as though she were fighting the urge to scream or cry. Then she slowly slipped her hands under his jaw and leaned upward, pressing her lips to his and leaning against him. He could hear and feel her breath catch in her throat as for that brief instant he allowed all the fear and danger to vanish and his mind and body to focus only on her and nothing else. After everything they'd been through, this was really, finally it—the end of the two of them together. Right then, all he wanted was for that instant to last a lifetime.

But it couldn't, and too quickly Annabeth backed away and wrapped her arms around Percy's neck, pulling him into a tight embrace he couldn't help but think would be their last. "I love you," she said in his ear, voice quiet and shaking.

He took a slow, steady breath in an attempt to calm his racing heart. "I love you, too."

Annabeth kept her face resting against Percy's shoulder as he felt her lower her arms. She drew one back slowly, and after a second that felt like an eternity her entire body tensed as she jerked her arm, and almost all of Percy's senses were suddenly overcome by sharp, searing pain.

He bit down hard on his tongue in an effort not to cry out, knowing that that would only make this that much harder for her. It certainly didn't help matters, though, that the darkness inside him seemed highly displeased with this turn of events and was leaping and twisting worse than ever before. The combination of pain and nausea made Percy feel like he was about to be sick. But he swallowed hard and tried to ignore the feeling, instead turning his head to his left and squinting through the darkness to see if Erebos had decided to make his move.

Except the darkness suddenly didn't seem as dark. The shadows that had congregated around Erebos were thinning by the second, and Percy could almost see the King of Darkness clearly through them. He'd started up the stands below Percy and Annabeth and had halted halfway, hands shaking as his eyeless gaze lowered toward the ground.

"What is this?" Erebos demanded, his whispery voice edged with apprehension. "What have you done?" He spread his arms and tried to call the shadows to him, but they didn't respond. His power was failing. Looking outraged, he raised his head and yelled angrily at Percy and Annabeth, knowing they must have been responsible. He stalked toward them up the stands and Percy turned to face Annabeth, gritting his teeth and steeling his expression when he noticed that she'd backed away to see what was going on. When she met his gaze, there was pain in her eyes.

Not trusting himself to speak clearly, Percy gave a short nod and hoped it properly conveyed his meaning. And when tears formed in the corners of Annabeth's eyes, he knew she understood. She breathed in deeply and her lips thinned to a narrow line, before she roughly twisted the knife in her hand and tugged it backward, pulling the blade from Percy's stomach in a quick, fluid motion. This time he was unable to keep from yelling hoarsely as another powerful flash of pain swept through him—but he wasn't the only one. Nearby, Erebos's voice roared in pain as well. Percy squeezed his eyes shut as his knees buckled and he stumbled forward, coughing weakly and tasting blood in his mouth, and Annabeth's hands gripped his arms at once to steady him. The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back amid the broken wood, Annabeth kneeling beside him with her wide eyes fixed on something just to his left.

Slowly he turned his head and his already-blurring vision focused on the King of Darkness—only something was different. Erebos had reached the top of the amphitheater stands and was standing at the edge of the wreckage, but he wasn't attacking them. His teeth were bared in a furious snarl and his gaze was pointed downward, toward the cold, gray light that seemed to be shining from something on the front of his tailcoat. The shadowy smoke in his eye sockets had faded, leaving only a pair of dark, empty voids. All the black on his body—his hair, his suit, his obsidian crown—all of it was fading, brightening to a steely gray. When the light on his chest intensified, Percy realized that it wasn't coming from his coat—it was coming from inside him, overcoming his darkness from within.

"NO!" Erebos shouted. He began clawing at his chest as though trying to scratch out the light, but it only grew in power until it was a pale silver, shining bigger and brighter by the second. "HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? MY DARKNESS CANNOT BE DEFEATED WITH LIGHT!"

_No,_ Percy thought with satisfaction, too exhausted to speak out loud. _But mine can. And like you said—my darkness is your darkness._

The light swelled and flashed, turning white-gold like the moon and stretching to cover the greater part of Erebos's form. The King of Darkness screamed in rage as luminous rays spread in arcs from his body, now glowing so blindingly bright in contrast to the eternal night that Percy was forced to shut his eyes and turn away from the sight. Even behind his eyelids he could sense the burning glow that intensified until Erebos's scream became a rushing howl of wind that split the air around them, and then all at once everything fell still and silent.

Tentatively Percy opened his eyes and searched the place where Erebos had just been standing—but the god was gone. Much more of the upper stands of the amphitheater had been splintered and demolished, leaving a gaping hole nearby and considerably more cluttered rubble. Amid it, a dim, silver fog hung in the air just above the ground, the only evidence that Erebos had vanished from the spot, but even as Percy watched it thinned and dissipated, becoming part of the night air.

He almost couldn't believe it, but what he'd just seen made it perfectly clear—the Shadow War was over. Erebos, the King of Darkness, was gone.

A small smile forced itself onto Percy's face. "It worked," he said in a tired, gravelly voice, trying not to focus on how weak and sleepy he felt and instead to allow the relief and elation of the truth sink in. He turned his head and raised heavy eyes to look at Annabeth. "We did it."

He was glad when she smiled, no matter how much sadness still hung behind her eyes. "Yeah," she agreed simply. "We did."

She slid both of her hands over one of his, and though he saw the movement he felt a biting wash of loss when he realized he couldn't feel it. Most of the pain was gone, leaving behind an empty numbness that blanketed everything else. For some reason, Percy flashed back to their trip to the Cloud Nine Hotel last month, when they'd had to fight through Hypnos's sons' dream trial. He'd been fatally wounded then, too, and the last few moments before he'd woken up in the lobby had felt exactly like this. With a regretful glance at Annabeth, he realized with a flash of guilt that real or not, this was the second time she would have to watch him die.

As that thought as well began to fade, his gaze traveled over her shoulder and up to the sky, and he thought he felt his heart leap at what he saw.

"Annabeth… Look."

She twisted around to follow his gaze, craning her neck to look up, and gasped. The solid ceiling of darkness that had covered the heavens since the night of the eclipse was cracking and fading, revealing behind it the night sky they hadn't seen in over six weeks.

"Stars," Annabeth said in a light, breathy voice. Percy couldn't see her face, but he could tell she was smiling. "I forgot how beautiful they are."

_Beautiful…_ The word repeated quietly in his head as his mind started to dull, casting away memories of the war as though they'd never happened. His eyes lowered and his dimming vision focused on Annabeth as she watched the sky. Slowly everything else faded—the sky, the camp, even him. All he could see, for those few lasting seconds, was his best friend, the one who trusted him enough to make an impossible sacrifice in order to save so many others. All that existed was her—the girl he loved more than anything.

And all he could think was how beautifully her hair glowed in the starlight.

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><p><strong>Three chapters left! Peace out! (^_^)v<strong>

**-oMM**


	52. LII Piper

**Okay so I wasn't gonna post this until Monday but I felt kind of bad about the last chapter after reading a lot of you guys' reactions, hahaha. See what happens when you review? You get chapters more quickly!**

**So just bear with me for a little bit, okay? I'm not gonna throw away the trust I've been asking you all for, haha. Just read on ;)**

**Thanks bunches for all the reviews! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>LII<br>PIPER**

It happened in the blink of an eye.

Piper had just decapitated one of the weird shadow-men that had been wreaking havoc across the camp and raised her sword to stab another when all of a sudden it had vanished. She froze, muscles tensing, expecting it to appear behind her or tackle her from above, but nothing happened. It was just gone. Glancing around, she saw a few other people nearby reacting very similarly, standing up straight and looking around in confusion. It looked as though all the shadow-figures had simply disappeared at the same time, leaving them nothing in the immediate vicinity to fight against.

"What just happened?" Jason asked apprehensively from her left, his grip on his sword tightening while his eyes darted back and forth as though waiting for a trap to spring.

"I don't know," Piper replied with uncertainty. "Can you see anything? It's like they just—"

"Look!" somebody nearby shouted as there was a collective chorus of shouts and gasps. Piper whirled around, ready for another attack, but hesitated when someone else said, "The sky!" and more than one arm pointed upward. Alarmed, Piper looked up and sucked in her breath—she could see stars. _Real_ stars, tiny pinpricks of light against the black-and-blue night sky she hadn't seen in many weeks. The rain had stopped, and the cloak of darkness was gone. And that could only mean one thing.

Erebos was defeated, and the war was won.

A wide grin spread across Piper's face as her sword slipped from her slackened grip, falling forgotten to the ground. She turned immediately toward Jason to see him staring in utter disbelief at the sky above, sword arm hanging lax at his side. When he lowered his gaze slowly to meet her eyes, she let out a giddy laugh and hugged him tightly, saying with excitement, "It's over! It's really over!"

"But… how?" Jason wondered blankly. "What happened?"

"Does it matter?" Piper responded, smiling up at him as they separated. "We won!" Finally he cracked a tentative grin and laughed in disbelief. All around them, people were having the same reaction, smiling and hugging their neighbors as they all realized that they were finally free of the King of Darkness.

The only one who didn't act excited was Nico, who was standing nearby and frowning at something down the hill to Piper and Jason's left. Piper shook her head and walked over to him. "Lighten up, Nico," she said, punching him loosely in the shoulder. "The war's over! It's okay to be a little happy for once."

"I am, it's just…" His jaw slid back and forth and his eyes narrowed as if in suspicion. "Something's not right," was all he said.

Piper exchanged a look with Jason, who prompted, "You… wanna elaborate on that?"

Nico tilted his head to the side, still staring at something to the east of where they were standing. Piper followed his gaze and saw the canoe lake a little ways off and, farther in the distance, the amphitheater. As far as she knew, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"It's my death sense," Nico explained finally, though his tone made it sound like he didn't fully understand what he was saying. "A minute ago, I felt a huge surge of power somewhere over there. Then it just… disappeared." His eyebrows drew more tightly together. "I think it was Erebos."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Piper said uncertainly. "That means he's really gone?"

"Yeah, but that's not the problem. It was a little overwhelming so I can't be totally sure, but at the same time I felt a really strong chill." His eyes darkened as he turned to look at Piper and Jason. "Like the one I get when somebody close to me dies."

This time, Piper felt a cold chill of her own. She glanced up at Jason to see a slightly anxious expression on his face as well. "So that means…?"

Nico shrugged weakly. "Like I said, I don't know for sure." He turned back toward the lake and his serious look told Piper that though he may not have known for sure, he seemed to have a pretty good idea.

"Do you know where it came from?" Jason asked.

"Somewhere over that way. I can't tell exactly how far."

"Then let's check it out," Jason suggested. "So we _can_ know for sure."

Piper's stomach started to tie itself in knots as the three of them set off immediately toward the lake. She glanced up at the sky again and reminded herself that at least Erebos was gone and the war was over. She wanted to be happy about it, but the sudden news that one of her good friends (she and Nico were part of the same crowd, after all) might be dead had a serious dampening effect on that desire. Maybe it was nothing, she told herself hopefully. Maybe it was like Nico said, and the feeling of Erebos's defeat had confused his senses. That could be it. No, that _had_ to be it. After losing Drew and thinking for a time that she'd lost Leo, she couldn't take the same feeling again.

The few campers they ran into around the canoe lake didn't know any particulars about Erebos's defeat, so Piper and the others left them alone to celebrate and continued on toward the amphitheater, the last structure before they would hit the camp's eastern border. As they neared, Piper felt her heartbeat quicken as her vision came to focus on the amphitheater; the top stand, which just rose above the ground, had been partly collapsed on the far right side. Dim, gray smoke was rising from the rubble, which she could just make out at a distance. As they neared, she realized that there was someone there—a figure kneeling on the ground beside the wreckage.

"Annabeth?" Jason called, recognizing her first. Annabeth jumped and turned sideways, and Piper noticed with a jolt that her eyes were red like she'd been crying, though the damp traces of rainwater on her face made it difficult to tell for sure. Jason started to ask, "What's…?" but he trailed off as they approached and the reason for her despondent expression became painfully obvious.

"No," Piper muttered weakly before placing both hands over her mouth, eyes sliding over the still, unmoving form of Percy Jackson and refusing to believe what they saw. She tried to convince herself it wasn't real. He was completely fine—off somewhere else in the camp laughing about the war being over. And even if he _was_ here, he definitely wasn't deathly pale and covered in blood, lying beside Annabeth with his eyes closed and his chest clearly not moving. Something like that couldn't ever happen. Not to him.

But the look on Annabeth's face—there was no way Piper could have imagined that. The heavy combination of grief, anger, and what looked like guilt was heartbreaking, even more so as it meant that another of Piper's friends was dead. This war had taken far too much from them—even now that it was over. How many more times tonight would her heart break with the news of one more fallen comrade?

Piper stepped sideways and leaned against Jason as a heavy weight pressed down on her at that thought, like her blood was slowly filling with cement. Jason numbly wrapped an arm around her waist but didn't look at her; his eyes stayed transfixed blankly on something no one else could see, a look of pained disbelief on his face.

"What happened?" Nico finally asked, his voice strangely hoarse. He looked like he was trying to keep a neutral expression, and failing miserably.

"His bond with Erebos," Annabeth replied in a quiet voice. She reached out and slowly threaded her fingers through Percy's rain-soaked hair, and Piper couldn't even imagine what she was feeling. Percy and Annabeth had been closer than any two people she knew. "'A death through death,' just like Rachel said."

It wasn't much, but Piper thought she understood. Whatever it had entailed, Percy had given his life to defeat Erebos. He'd saved them all.

Nico stepped forward, shaking his head, and dropped to his knees on Percy's other side. He reached a hand toward Percy's arm, but as soon as he touched him he yanked his hand back as though he'd been burned and brought it to eye level, staring at his fingers with a sudden bewildered expression.

"What?" Piper asked, worried.

Nico's face screwed up in a confused frown. "He's… not… gone," he said very slowly.

Piper blinked and repeated, "What?"

Annabeth looked sharply at Nico. "What are you talking about?" she demanded. "You mean… he's not dead?"

"No, he's dead, alright," Nico informed them. "But his soul is… It hasn't left. Annabeth, I think…" He looked up at her. "I think it's you. You're the one keeping him here."

A pained look crossed Annabeth's face. "Are you saying I have to let him go? Because I—"

"No!" Nico said at once, holding out his hands. "No, the opposite—I'm saying if you don't, it might not be too late to save him."

The three of them fell so silent Piper could hear the people celebrating in the distance. "Nico," Annabeth said in a brittle, steady voice. "You'd better be sure about this, because if—"

"I am," Nico insisted firmly. "But we have to hurry. We need water. And electricity."

Starting to feel oddly excited, Piper nudged Jason in the ribs a bit harder than she meant to. He didn't seem to notice, though, as he'd already started saying, "I've got electricity."

Annabeth frowned. "We're too far from the lake, though. If we need water—"

"I think I can help with that."

Piper jumped a mile high at the deep voice directly behind her. She and Jason turned around and she felt herself seem to shrink as she stared up into the somber face of the sea god, Poseidon—Percy's immortal father. And he wasn't alone. Beside him, the goddess Athena was standing stony-faced with her hands resting on her hips. Annabeth's eyes flitted to her mother and her eyebrows drew together, but neither of them said a word. Both gods were dressed in Greek battle armor and looked tired and worn, but even then they still cut a very impressive, intimidating figure. Quietly, Piper backed away from them, pulling Jason along beside her.

Poseidon's sea-green eyes studied his son for a quiet instant before locking on Nico, who seemed to tense under the god's stare. "The water is meant to heal his body, correct?"

"Y-Yeah," Nico replied. "If we heal the wound and then give him a good jolt, it should restart his heart. If all goes well, anyway."

"Then let's not waste any time." Poseidon stepped forward and dropped to one knee as Athena stood still and quiet, watching with an air of indifference. He raised a hand and swept it in a circle in midair, and Piper felt an odd, cool breeze as the air seemed to rush toward him. She could have sworn her eyes were playing tricks on her when a thin stream of water appeared from nowhere and swirled around the god's fingers, growing thicker by the second, until she realized in slight awe that he was actually pulling the moisture from the air itself. What kind of incredible power did the gods have to be able to do things like that?

Satisfied, Poseidon flattened his hand and angled three fingers downward, and the water shot toward Percy like a jet stream. It hit him in the stomach and soaked into his shirt, disappearing in under a second. Poseidon then nodded at Nico, who turned sideways and said, "Jason, now!" Jason raised an arm and as it started to spark with electricity Piper took a step back, feeling the hairs on her arms stand on end and her ears pop from the decreased air pressure. He stretched his arm and pointed a finger, and as a tiny bolt of lightning shot from his hand and hit Percy in the chest everyone seemed to freeze in anticipation.

After barely half a second, Percy's eyes suddenly shot open and he jolted into a sitting position with a heaving gasp. Nobody moved as Annabeth tentatively reached out a hand and touched his shoulder, saying in a breathy voice, "…Percy?"

Weakly his eyes rose to meet hers and he frowned in vague confusion, glancing around a bit dazedly before saying between heavy breaths, "Anybody else smell fried seafood?"

Immediately the weight seemed to lift from Piper's shoulders and in a rush she let out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. As Annabeth grinned wildly and threw her arms around Percy, Piper couldn't help but laugh. She stepped forward and gripped Jason's arm as he laughed in relief as well, grinning down at her. Nico breathed out heavily and sat back on the ground, actually smiling for once, and Poseidon slowly stood and stepped back next to Athena.

When Annabeth released Percy, his eyes landed on his father and widened in mild alarm. "What's going on?" he asked, looking around at the odd assortment of onlookers. "What happened?"

"You _died_, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said pointedly, smacking him on the back of the head.

"I know, but—Why am I, you know… not dead… anymore?"

Annabeth glanced up at Poseidon, who gave a small smile and answered, "Because there are those of us who aren't quite ready for you to be."

"Hades isn't going to like this," Athena said airily, speaking for the first time since her arrival. "You heard him earlier, complaining about the 'laws of death' and how 'no one follows them like they used to'." As the goddess looked upward and shook her head, Piper thought of Leo and bit her lip, remaining silent. For some reason, she noticed Nico shift and glance sideways, looking oddly guilty.

"He'll get over it," Poseidon replied, waving a hand. "He has more important things to worry about. I hear the Underworld has been in a bit of disarray since the war started."

"He isn't the only one with a kingdom to repair," Athena pointed out. "Olympus has been all but destroyed thanks to Erebos's poor supervision."

"Nothing we can't take care of," Poseidon said confidently. "Besides, haven't you been wanting to do some redesigning anyway?" Athena's gray eyes shifted to Annabeth and her lips turned up in a small smile.

"Either way," Athena went on, "we should return to the city for now and assess the damage. There's much to be done. I'm sure we have minutes until we receive a summons from Lord Zeus." A dry touch entered her voice as she added, "I suppose it would be best if he wasn't kept waiting."

Poseidon nodded in agreement before turning back to Piper and the others. "Get some rest," he told them. "At daybreak, you five and your other leaders come to the palace. I like to think I can speak for my brothers as well in saying that we have a few things to discuss together. And Percy, from me..." His eyes rested on his son and he smiled, prompting Percy to grin in return. "Well done." With that, there was a bright flash of light and he and Athena vanished.

Percy, Annabeth, and Nico all climbed to their feet and for a long few seconds none of them spoke, until Piper started to smile and said, "Guys… We won." Identical grins slowly spread simultaneously over every one of their faces, and before long they were laughing, hugging, and high-fiving in relief and excitement.

"Come on, let's go find the others," Annabeth suggested, gripping Percy's hand with both of hers and smiling like she'd never been happier. "I think we've got some celebrating to do."

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><p><strong>HA! Okay, yeah, maybe it was a bit of a cop-out to write that really sad, dramatic death scene and then go and bring him back. But I couldn't really do it! I can kill side characters, but I just can't permanently nix the main kids, not after this super long ordeal. I love 'em too much :D I'm sure you guys understand, right? Right…? Heh heh. Heh.<strong>

**Anyway, there're only two chapters left, and I'm both happy and sad to say that the nerve-wracking drama is completed. It's all smooth sailing from here. Still a good deal of resolution and a few ends to tie up; both the next two chapters are longer than this one, especially the last one. I was gonna post two next week, but since this one came up early there'll only be one next week and one the following week. And then we're done! *tear***

**So hopefully this'll make some of you hate me a little less. How 'bout a review? Glad I fixed everything? Disappointed I took the cheap route? This was a tough decision to make, but I'm happy with how this ends. Know that at least :D**

**Later days, guys!**

**-oMM**


	53. LIII Piper

**Hey gang! Happy Thursday :) Thanks as always for the reviews. I don't think I have much to say today, so enjoy the chapter!**

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><p><strong>LIII<br>PIPER**

Even though Poseidon had told them to get some rest, and also despite the fact that it was the middle of the night, sleep was the last thing on Piper's mind. And she wasn't the only one who felt that way. As she and the others left the amphitheater and walked back across the camp, the place was buzzing with activity. It had been crowded before, what with the addition of the Romans and the few new campers who'd been brought in, but now with everyone out and about the major areas seemed even more so. Everywhere people were marveling at the end of the war, glad of their freedom from Erebos and Nyx's conquest. It was great to walk around and see smiles on people's faces, see campers talking and laughing with their neighbors as if the entire battle had never happened.

But even still, it was impossible to forget everything they'd been through. While smiles were numerous, so were tears and serious eyes. So many of them had been hurt or lost their lives that night. For every person celebrating, there was another helping the wounded or mourning a dead friend. Every time Piper saw a body lying still, her heart would skip a beat as she imaged it being Leo or Frank or Hazel or one of her cabin mates. And each time she'd release a short sigh of relief when it wasn't, feeling guilty all the while because even though it hadn't been one of her own best friends, it _had_ been somebody's.

They didn't have a count of how many people they'd lost. It wasn't a significant number statistically speaking, but when those gone were people you personally knew, anything above zero felt painfully significant. Piper learned that two Greek counselors had been killed—Butch from the Iris cabin and Clarisse from Ares. Butch had been in charge of the team defending the children and elderly in the newer cabins behind the strawberry fields, and had gone down against one of Erebos's doppelgangers that had tried to get through. Clarisse, Piper heard, had decimated an impressive number of those shadow-men in the dark before she'd fallen while protecting one of her half-siblings.

They'd also lost a staggering four Roman centurions. When Piper had heard this, she'd nearly had a heart attack in fear—until a little while later when she'd discovered that neither Frank nor Hazel was included in that number. Who were included were both Fourth Cohort leaders and one each from the Third and Second Cohorts, including the guy name Larry whom Piper had spoken with on a few occasions. According to Reyna, very few deaths occurred among the Twelfth Legion aside from those four. And when each of the remaining Greek counselors had rounded up their cabin mates, the report was similar.

Though deaths were few, the number of serious injuries received was much higher. Every bed in the infirmary was full, as well as some of those in the cabins that hadn't been damaged by Erebos's black fire. Injuries ranged from minor lacerations to broken bones to life-threatening burns. Katie Gardner had suffered some sort of stab wound in her shoulder and had taken up the bed beside her boyfriend, whose condition had improved despite the continuance of his coma. Thalia Grace was confined to the infirmary as well, but all Piper knew was that she had taken some serious fire damage during the battle. Piper's half-brother Mitchell had suffered a bad slice across the face that had severed one of his ears and left him with an ugly scar beneath his left eye and across his nose. Leo, she was anxious to discover, had been caught in yet another collapsing building (though thankfully a much smaller one this time) and was now sedated in the infirmary tent while the healers busied themselves with him and everyone else. She'd been assured that his life wasn't in danger, but still she made a mental note to later have a serious talk with him about his newfound habit of getting himself buried under rubble.

Chiron had returned to Camp Half-Blood with Piper and many of the others and had gone straight to help Octavian defend the Big House and infirmary. And it was a good thing he had, otherwise who knew how much worse the damage could have been. Once the battle ended, he took immediately to cantering around the camp, assessing the statuses of the many groups of campers and assigning them jobs. It was a sign of everyone's strength and obedience that there were no complaints. After all, they'd just fought a war. Presumably they deserved a little time off. That being said, though, everyone seemed to realize that there was too much remaining to do before they could relax completely. Piper, Jason, Percy, Annabeth, and Nico ran into Chiron near the cabins and he'd demanded at once to know what had happened—how exactly they'd won the war. With some apparent reluctance, Percy and Annabeth recounted their story, and hearing the whole thing for the first time Piper felt a sympathetic twinge of pain in her heart at the look on Annabeth's face when Percy explained how he'd asked her to kill him and she'd been forced to comply. She couldn't ever imagine having to do something like that to someone she loved.

But still, the fact that it had all miraculously worked out in the end seemed to lighten the otherwise heavy atmosphere. Chiron looked troubled at the news of what had happened, but even he had to admit that it was in the past and couldn't be argued, especially since Percy was perfectly fine now and Erebos was gone for good. Instead, the centaur advised Piper and the others to spread out and offer their assistance wherever it was needed, which was something none of them hesitated to do.

The hours until morning came were long—so long that when the sky above finally started to brighten Piper felt like it had been days since Erebos's defeat. They'd spread the word to the other counselors and centurions about their summons to Mount Olympus and agreed to meet at the pine tree that marked the camp's border at first light. From there, they'd take pegasi to Manhattan to meet the gods, along with whatever it was they'd have to say.

When the time came, Piper and Jason were the first to arrive at the meeting place, followed quickly by Frank, Hazel, Octavian, and the Third Cohort centurion, Hank (the other two surviving centurions were both confined to the infirmary). Grover showed up next with Percy, Annabeth, and Nico, and not long after them came Lou Ellen Baker and Connor Stoll, who reported that Thalia, Katie, and Pollux wouldn't be coming due to injury and that Will Solace would also be staying behind to assist with medical efforts. Clovis wandered sleepily up Half-Blood Hill a few minutes later. Last to arrive were Reyna and, slightly to Piper's surprise, Leo, who was looking much better and back on his feet—well, in a manner of speaking, anyway. One of his legs had been pretty badly busted up and he was walking on crutches. The only other person they'd told was Chiron, but the activities director had insisted that he was more needed at camp, and that he really had no place at the Olympian council anyhow. No argument to the contrary seemed sufficient to change his mind.

Together, the fifteen of them hopped the camp's eight fastest pegasi and headed straight for Manhattan in a heavy, steely silence. No one said it out loud, but Piper knew they were nervous. Poseidon had been friendly enough when inviting them to the mountain of the gods, but he'd always been one of the more approachable immortals. Where the others were concerned, their moods and intentions were much more difficult to decipher. When it came down to it, the way this meeting would go was anyone's guess.

When they reached the Empire State Building and let themselves in, they found the lobby a wreck. The floor and walls were cracked, tables were overturned, torn papers lay everywhere. A disgruntled-looking man in a janitor's uniform was sweeping monster dust from the floor with a push broom. It looked more or less like a willful tornado had made sweeps of the room, purposely ransacking everything in sight.

As they entered, the janitor looked up and scowled. "No tours today," he said gruffly, sparing them a brief glance before returning his eyes to his broom. "Had a break-in overnight. Bunch'a delinquent vandals. I ain't gettin' paid near enough for this."

Someone snorted in amusement and Piper glanced to her right to see Leo with a hand over his mouth, obviously trying very hard not to crack up. "What?" she asked with a frown.

"I'm sorry," he said in a slightly strained voice. "It's not really funny, I just—" A laugh broke through his sentence. "I don't know, I can't help it. After everything…" Inexplicably, he seemed to just lose it after that. He lowered his head and leaned on his crutches, overcome by a random fit of laughter. As the janitor's expression slackened and he stared at Leo like he'd gone completely nuts, Piper felt a wide grin spread unconsciously over her face and before she knew it she'd started giggling as well. She glanced at Jason, who cracked a smile and chuckled—at Percy, who doubled over with a crazy grin and burst out laughing—at Annabeth and Reyna, who were covering their mouths and trying and failing not to look amused—at Frank, who chuckled almost nervously and looked around in confusion while Hazel smiled at him—at Connor, who laughed loudly and thumped Lou Ellen on the back as she giggled in response. Even Octavian was glancing at the ground, shaking his head with an amused smile.

Piper couldn't explain what was going through her head. Something about seeing the entrance to the palace of the gods so wrecked and messy just made the whole thing less surreal, less frightening. It was like their camp—a place that was supposed to be safe, untouchable by evil. Until last night, when one god had gone and destroyed both.

Or so they'd thought. But when they walked into the Empire State Building that morning, something seemed to click—it was still standing. Despite having been damaged by the culminating battle of the war, caught between two opposing armies, Olympus wasn't gone. And neither was Camp Half-Blood. Sure, it needed some hefty repairs, but their home was still standing, still whole after everything it had been through. Just like they were. And just as they had the power to fix their home, they had the power to fix themselves and each other.

As Piper looked around at her friends, all of whom were smiling and laughing as though they hadn't a care in the world, she knew they were all thinking the exact same thing. It didn't matter what the gods said or did that morning. Because they'd survived. They would go on, whatever happened. Even if nothing else, at least they were still standing.

The janitor's face had started to turn a ruddy shade of burgundy as the scowl returned to his expression. "I ain't sure what you kids are findin' so funny," he said irritably. "But I think it's prob'ly time ya get goin' before I get ya charged with trespassing."

"No—actually, we're here to see the gods," Jason said hurriedly. "We got an invite from Poseidon, said to come by at sunrise."

The janitor narrowed his eyes. "Ain't no idea what you're talkin' about, kid. Now scram before I call the cops."

"You don't want to do that," Piper said sweetly, charmspeak in her voice and a smile on her face. "We're the ones who helped the gods end the war. They really do want to see us. Why don't you just get us one of those nice red keycards and we'll be on our way?"

The janitor blinked hazily and shook his head, eyeing Piper with a hint of vague suspicion. "Aphrodite girl, eh?" he said, confirming their suspicions that he knew exactly what they were talking about. "Alright, alright. Hold yer horses." He leaned his broom against the wall and trudged around the half-collapsed front desk, kicking dust and ashes up as he walked. He reached under the counter and produced a thin, red keycard, scowling again as he handed it to Jason. "Good luck, kids. They ain't in the best of moods up there right now. Been hearin' odd stuff all mornin'."

"Thanks," Jason said with a smile before leading the way into the elevator, the other fourteen piling in behind him.

The city of Olympus looked very much like it had when Piper had left the mountain late the previous night—that is to say, not great. Not only had it had to endure being inhabited by monsters and destructive gods for the past six weeks, but also a city-wide battle. Piper felt a little guilty as they ascended the stone steps up the mountainside and she took in the sights, but beneath that she knew that the alternative to their actions would have been much worse. If they hadn't broken in to free the gods, who knew how long Erebos and his army would have remained? At least this way, everything had been brought to an end. And besides, these were gods. How hard could it be for them to clean up their city?

When they reached the summit, Piper understood what the janitor had meant. It was clear that inside the palace, the gods were having an intense discussion. The sky above the courtyard was a stormy gray, with clouds swirling and lightning flashing above them every few minutes. There was no rain falling, which was a welcome change, but the ground was still damp and slippery from the earlier downpour. As they crossed the courtyard, Piper could hear the dull thrum of indistinct voices coming from behind the great entry doors. It wasn't until they were near enough that she could make out what they were saying.

"All I'm saying is, if we're redesigning the place anyway, why not go for a more artistic approach? The last setup was a bit too practical—boring, even. We need some pizzazz!"

"Are you calling my daughter's designs _boring?_"

"Please, Athena, he's only grumpy because there wasn't a statue of him on every street corner. The design was flawless, as you know."

"Thank you, Artemis."

"Flawless? Pshh. The biased tribute was a flaw, if you ask me."

"No one _asked_ you, brother—"

"If we're talking about tributes—" Piper breathed in sharply as she recognized her mother's voice. "—I'd love a few more of myself, too. How about one in the central courtyard—oh, with a glittering fountain and gold trims? I'm sure Demeter and her daughter would be happy to supply some flowers—"

"Oh, would I, now?"

"Enough of this," an authoritative female voice interrupted. "The specifics can be ironed out at later date. More importantly for the time being, I would endeavor to remind you all to regain yourselves and stop making fools of us before our _guests_." She said the word much like one might address a persistently annoying fly buzzing around their head, but it was enough for silence to fall in response. Standing just outside the doors, Piper and the others exchanged slightly apprehensive glances. Evidently, that was their cue.

With a steady breath, Jason approached the giant doors and raised a fist, knocking it twice against the oak. A booming voice said, "Enter," and immediately the doors swung open to reveal the throne room of the gods. Thirteen sets of eyes fixed on them as all major Olympians looked down from their thrones. All of them had abandoned their battle armor and were dressed more or less normally, though that hardly made them any less intimidating.

"Welcome, all of you," Poseidon said with a friendly smile. Looking around, Piper was glad to see that he wasn't the only one who looked happy to see them. Identical, pleased expressions could be seen on the faces of Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, and Hermes. Hephaestus was scowling as usual, but his eyes had a distinct twinkle in them. The corners of Athena's mouth had turned up just barely and her eyes were a warm gray rather than a cold steel. Dionysus looked like he was trying specifically _not_ to look happy, which told Piper that he probably was. Ares had his arms crossed and a satisfied smirk on his face. Demeter looked down her nose at them, as expected, but there wasn't quite as much contempt in her eyes. Hades—well, Hades looked the same as he always did. No surprise there. And as for Zeus and Hera—the two of them had long since perfected the regal, godly poker face.

"Come in, come in," Aphrodite said brightly, beckoning them forward. Her blue eyes scanned the group and came to rest on Piper, her smile widening to show perfect, white teeth.

"I suppose we'd better get to it, then," Poseidon decided with a glance at Zeus. "Do you agree?"

"Yes, very well," Zeus said in his stiff, booming voice as he watched Piper and the others. His eyes, predictably, lingered on Jason, but unlike Poseidon and Aphrodite his face remained expressionless. "My brother has seen fit to invite you all here to thank you for your assistance in ridding ourselves of Nyx and Erebos."

Poseidon smiled at them, seeming unbothered by Zeus's off-handed tone. "It couldn't have been done without you."

Zeus rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't say _that_." Piper noticed Percy tense beside her and assumed that he, like her, was resisting the urge to point out that they had in fact dealt the final blows to both Nyx and Erebos. And not only that, but if it hadn't been for them the gods might still have been trapped in Hypnos's enchanted sleep. Evidently, a few of the other gods seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because though no one spoke there were quite a few disapproving stares directed at the Lord of the Sky—particularly from Athena and Hephaestus.

"Even so," Zeus went on, his expression tightening as he shifted under the eyes on him. "We, er… We do appreciate… the help you offered. Yes. And now that the war is over and things are settling down, we've agreed that a few rewards are in order. Some of us," he shot a stiff glance to his right, where Poseidon was still smiling at Piper and the others, "believe that as your entire army was involved in the battle, each person deserves some form of recognition. However, as you've undoubtedly seen on your way up here, we have a good deal on our plates at the moment and simply can't afford the strain to our resources. Therefore, we've decided to award only those whose actions were most crucial to our victory. Any other recognition will be at the discretion of the affected council member."

"Hmph," Hades muttered, crossing his arms. "Considering that some of you should not be drawing breath right now, the fact that you are could constitute as reward enough."

"Yes, Hades, you've made your stance very clear," Zeus said impatiently, earning an irritated scowl from the Lord of the Dead. "Unfortunately, the vote is in favor. Now, to business. First—Jason Grace and Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano."

Reyna cringed visibly as she and Jason stepped forward. Piper couldn't blame her. With a name like that, she'd probably start going by only her first name, too.

"We understand the city of New Rome was destroyed by Nyx during the lunar eclipse," Zeus went on. "For joining forces with Camp Half-Blood despite this hardship and helping to defend Olympus, we're prepared to offer you building materials from our own forges to repair what you've lost. Additionally, we've contacted the Wolf House in regards to refilling your ranks. Lupa has agreed to redouble recruitment efforts and expedite induction training."

Jason and Reyna exchanged surprised glances. "Thank you, Lord Zeus," Reyna said as they both bowed respectfully.

"All of you," Jason added with a tentative look around the throne room.

Zeus nodded, signaling them to reclaim their places among the other spectators. He then glanced at Hephaestus, who leaned forward on his chair and growled, "Leo Valdez."

With a little difficulty, Leo made his way forward. He inclined his head to Zeus before turning to his father and saying, "I'd kneel and all, but you know…" He lifted one crutch and waved it in the air.

"No need," Hephaestus replied gruffly. "Thanks to you, Nyx was taken out of the picture before things with Erebos erupted. We're making plans to have her locked deep in the Underworld so she can't break out again. For that—and for freeing Hypnos twice and helping him wake the rest of us—I've got the go-ahead to offer you a job."

Leo blinked uncertainly. "A job?"

"In my forge," the god of fire explained. "Engineer for the gods. It's demanding, I'll warn you, but the stuff you could make—well, it ain't stuff you can find in the mortal world, that's for sure."

For once Leo looked speechless. He stared at his father with his mouth open, totally taken aback by this request. Piper shared his surprise. She wanted to be excited for him—spending time with your godly parent doing what you loved most was like the ultimate dream for most demigods—but a tiny inner voice reminded her that this would probably mean she'd hardly ever see him again. Maybe never at all. And that was difficult to ignore.

Despite her misgivings, Piper was sure to give Leo a reassuring grin when he looked over at her in indecision. "That's… awesome," he said to Hephaestus, still sounding stunned. "Seriously. That sounds… completely epic. But…" His eyes met Piper's again and for a brief instant she felt like she could read his mind. She knew exactly what he was going to say. His gaze swept over Jason, Annabeth, and the others, lingering a few seconds longer on Reyna, before he finished, "I think they need me more at camp."

Hephaestus nodded. "Fair enough. Home is a complicated thing. When you find it, it's awful tough to give it up. But if you won't take the job, at least let me offer you something else instead." Leo frowned in surprise as the god pressed a button on the arm of his mechanical chair and a compartment opened on the lower left side. He reached into it and pulled something out before snapping it closed.

Leo's eyes widened hungrily as he recognized the object. "A tool belt?"

"Not unlike the one you lost. The difference—this one's connected to my own storehouse under Mount Olympus. Got any tool or material you could ever need. Unlimited access." He tossed the belt to his son, who snatched it out of the air and stared at it like he was holding the secret to the universe in his hands.

"Whoa," Leo said, a grin spreading across his face. "Man, sixteen years' worth of birthdays and Christmases and this tops 'em all, hands down." He looked up at his father. "Thanks. Really."

Again Hephaestus nodded stiffly. "You done me proud, kid. I should be thankin' you." Leo gave an uncomfortable laugh in response.

"Yes, very good," Zeus said, rolling his eyes as Leo slung his new tool belt over his shoulder and retreated out of the spotlight. "That being done, let's move on to the last two and get this finished."

"If you say," Poseidon said with a small smile. Exchanging a nod with Athena, he called out, "Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson."

Annabeth gripped Percy's hand as they stepped away from the others. Piper was impressed at the total lack of nervousness on both their faces as they approached the gods.

"We know what happened this morning," Poseidon told them. "How you two were responsible for drawing Erebos's real form into the open and defeating him. You should know that your actions erased so much of his power and essence that we believe it will be impossible for him to regain a physical body ever again. Yet another threat you've eliminated for us." He chuckled. "Personally, I'm starting to think we ought to make you two our permanent bodyguards." Percy snorted like he found that idea completely ridiculous, and Annabeth suppressed a smile. A few of the gods reacted similarly—Ares, in particular, muttered under his breath, "Fat chance of _that_."

"Ordinarily," Zeus cut in firmly with a stern glance at Poseidon, "we would offer you both the… overly-generous, in my opinion, gift of immortality. But seeing as you turned it down once, I have no real mind to present it a second time."

Piper breathed in sharply in surprise. She didn't know the gods even _made_ that kind of offer. But to hear that her friends had received it before—and turned it down, no less? She made a mental note to ask them for details later as Percy exchanged a glance with Annabeth and replied, "That's… probably for the best."

Zeus shook his head. "The ungratefulness of you demigods astounds me sometimes."

"No, we're grateful, seriously," Percy insisted as Annabeth nodded in agreement. "It's just… I don't want to live forever, to spend all that time watching the world suffer and not being able to do anything to help. I know human lives look so short and meaningless to you guys, but… for us, they're… real." Annabeth squeezed his hand and he smiled at her. "I don't think I can give that up."

Piper couldn't help but smile as she felt a swell of respect for the two of them. It can't have been easy to turn down immortality. She knew a lot of people who would jump at the chance to live forever, never aging or growing weak. But the thing about being a demigod was that it made you really cherish your life—really understand its meaning. Things just seemed to mean more when you had to fight for them.

"Very well, then," Zeus said with an irritated sigh. "Is there anything you _do_ want? Another outlandish promise, perhaps?"

"No, no, I'm good," Percy replied. "All I want is… well, a life that means something. And that's something I have to make for myself."

"If you insist. In that case, you and Annabeth Chase—"

"Actually," Annabeth spoke up, "there is something I want. If it's okay with you." Hera's expression seemed to sour a bit, but Zeus just waved a hand, indicating Annabeth to continue. "I want you to help us restore Camp Half-Blood. Also, I'd like to expand it, if we can. To make room for everyone."

There was a low murmur of surprise. Zeus raised his eyebrows. "You wish to bring the Greeks and Romans together?"

"No," Annabeth argued confidently. "I wish to bring our _family_ together." Hera arched an eyebrow, as though she took the mention of 'family' very seriously, as all the other gods' attentions seemed to fix on Annabeth in interest. Zeus's eyebrows angled together, but he made no sound. "I know it'll be dangerous," Annabeth went on, "having so many of us in one place. But after everything that's happened, I think we all just need to be close to each other."

As Percy smiled and slid an arm around Annabeth's waist, Piper realized that she was right. All of them—Greek and Roman alike—had been through so much together in recent weeks alone. When she thought of Jason, Reyna, and the others moving back across the country, it just didn't feel right anymore.

Apparently, Annabeth still wasn't finished. "I'd… also like to request that we re-name the camp," she said. "After all, it's not just half-bloods anymore."

The gods were all quiet for a long moment. When Zeus finally spoke, he asked, "Do you have a name in mind?"

Seeming strengthened by not being immediately shot down, Annabeth answered, "Camp Lumina. Because together, we're stronger than any darkness."

Piper frowned. The name couldn't have been Greek, because she didn't immediately understand it. Probably noting her expression, Jason leaned over and whispered, "It's Latin. It means 'light'."

So Annabeth had picked a Latin name. Silently, Piper thought that was a great idea. She remembered her talk with Octavian about how worried he'd been that the Roman culture would disappear in their cohabitation at Camp Half-Blood. Maybe this would be the first step in the right direction.

"For what it's worth," Jason said aloud, this time addressing the entire room, "I support Annabeth's request." He slid his hand into Piper's and smiled.

On his other side, Reyna nodded in agreement. "As do I."

"Well, brother," Poseidon said with a smile, "it sounds like the decision has been made."

"Very well," Zeus said, lifting his chin. "We will assist in the restoration, expansion, and protection of your camp, which will from this day be known as Camp Lumina. I trust you understand what you're getting into."

"We can do it," Annabeth said, sounding sure. "I know it."

Zeus lifted a shoulder. "Then it's done. I'd say that counts as reward enough. Are you satisfied?" he asked Poseidon with a hint of sarcasm.

Poseidon nodded. "Very."

"In that case, I declare this meeting of the Olympian council closed. And I suggest everyone get to work immediately. There will be plenty of time to celebrate when our city is no longer a pile of wreckage."

Despite the suggestion, the gods evidently were in no mood to buckle down on repairs. Piper started to tug Jason toward the exit, feeling that it was time they leave, but she hadn't gotten far before her mother swooped down on her and pulled her into a bone-breaking hug.

"Piper, you were amazing!" she said in a breathy voice as Piper squirmed awkwardly. She knew Aphrodite had always been the hugging type, but that didn't make her any more prepared.

"But… I didn't really do anything," Piper protested, trying not to gag as the potent scent of flowery perfume wafted over her.

Aphrodite backed up and held her at arm's length. Her hair was a long, flowing caramel color today and certainly didn't look like she'd just participated in a night-long battle, much unlike her daughter's, which was matted and messy.

"Of course you did!" she insisted. "No one appreciates the effect of a positive attitude, honestly. You've really started to understand the truth of love and beauty—_real_ love and beauty. When you can find it anywhere, bring it out in others—that's not easy to do. Believe me, I would know." She beamed at Piper. "I'm so proud of you."

Despite any doubts, those words did make Piper feel pretty good about herself. Hearing a god praise you and tell you they were proud was a major confidence-booster.

"And you!" Aphrodite went on, turning to Jason and giving him a winning smile. "Oh, I just love you both!" She spread her arms wide and pulled the two of them into a very uncomfortable group hug.

"Thanks, Mom," Piper said with a grin.

After a few more similar minutes, Piper and Jason were finally able to break free when Aphrodite went to talk to Demeter. Looking around the room, she noticed that she wasn't the only one who'd been intercepted on their way out. Grover was standing beside Dionysus's throne and talking quickly, waving his arms in a slightly agitated way while the wine god nodded half-heartedly. Hermes was talking quietly with Connor a little ways away, and both had serious expressions on their faces. Ares had a hand clamped on Frank's shoulder and was speaking very loudly with a smirk on his face—Piper distinctly heard the word 'drakon' from all the way across the room. Hades was standing beside his throne with his hands clasped behind his back, giving Nico some sort of orders. Clovis, predictably, had dozed off in the corner, and Octavian, Hank, and Lou Ellen were nowhere to be found—perhaps they'd made it out and were already on their way down the mountain.

Spotting Leo and Reyna near the entrance doors, Piper nudged Jason and said, "Come on, let's get out of here." He nodded, looking grateful for the request, and led the way. They caught up with Leo and Reyna at the same time Percy and Annabeth reached the doors, and just before they could close them again a voice called out, "Wait up!" as Frank hurried toward them, Hazel and Nico trudging along behind him.

"Glad that's over," Frank said with a relieved sigh. He looked much calmer now that they'd left the gods behind.

"Oh, it wasn't so bad," Hazel argued with a smile. "You heard him, he was bragging about you! 'That's _two_ of my children who're drakon-slayers!'" She laughed at the embarrassed look on Frank's face. Then she slid her hand into his as they all started across the courtyard, and suddenly he didn't look quite so displeased anymore.

"I'd say as a whole, though, that definitely could've gone worse," Percy said. "They didn't even threaten to kill us."

Piper asked, "Does that happen often?"

Percy shrugged. "You'd be surprised."

"You know," Reyna pointed out, "if you'd taken them up on their offer, they would be _able_ to threaten to kill you anymore."

He shrugged again, eyes shooting toward Annabeth, who smiled. "Eh, it's not worth it," he said simply.

"I gotta say, though, man," Leo put in, shaking his head with a crooked grin. "That stuff you told the gods about wanting a life that means something? I've had pizza with less cheese."

Percy laughed. "You want to talk 'cheesy', how about Annabeth?" He straightened his back and held out his arms dramatically. "'Camp Lumina: Because together, we're stronger than any darkness.' Sounds like the tagline for a healthcare company."

"Maybe we can get it printed on our Christmas cards," Leo suggested.

Piper laughed heartily, not realizing how much she'd missed talking and joking with her friends. The Shadow War had only lasted six weeks, but they'd been the longest six weeks of Piper's life—which was saying something as she hadn't really led the most normal of lifestyles. But now, with it gone, she had nothing to worry about anymore. She could finally relax, for the first time in what felt like forever.

"It's really over," she said aloud after a minute, prompting everyone around her to exchange smiles in agreement.

"Hey, what about the prophecy?" Frank remembered. "Did it all come true, or are we still waiting for something to come and surprise us?"

"Well," Annabeth said thoughtfully. "'Darkness falls from blood and sand, a war of shadows to rend the land.' That bit's obvious enough."

"'Son of the Storm-bringer, doomed to fail,'" Hazel recited.

"That was me," Percy told them. "I tried to beat Erebos myself, but I couldn't do it. Annabeth did it instead."

Nico continued, "'And sleep entombed in fiery jail,' that was Hypnos. Literal sleep, trapped in Nightflame in Nyx's palace."

"'Hero's sacrifice buries the night,'" Annabeth added.

"Leo," Piper said at once. "Even though it was only temporary, you really did die to defeat her. That's a sacrifice if there ever was one."

"Wait—you actually died?" Percy interrupted, shooting Leo a surprised look.

"Yup," Leo admitted. "I'm the walking dead now, just like Hazel. And you, I guess."

"So what, now _three_ of us have been clinically dead?" Jason realized.

"Three and a half, if you count Nico," Leo said with a smirk.

Nico glared at him. "Ha, ha."

Jason laughed ruefully and shook his head. "That's gotta be some kind of record."

"What about the last line of the prophecy?" Frank asked with a frown. "'Crimson and gold together bring light.' What does that mean?"

"It's us and the gods," Annabeth answered.

"Our blood," Reyna caught on. "We're crimson, they're gold. We needed to work together to win the war. Now it makes sense."

"They always do after the fact," Annabeth said wryly.

"I don't know about you guys," Percy said, stretching his arms as they descended the bottom of the stone steps and started across the narrow walkway to the elevator, "but I'm hoping we don't hear another prophecy for a _long_ time."

"No arguments here," Leo agreed. "I'm not normally one for peace and quiet, but heck if I couldn't use some right now. I think I've had enough excitement lately to last me at least a few years. Or, you know, until the next war breaks out."

"Ugh, don't even joke about that," Piper complained as they grouped around the elevator doors and Leo used the end of one of his crutches to punch the button.

"Well, whatever happens," Annabeth said, "one thing's for sure." She looked around at them all and smiled. "We face it together. As a family."

Piper felt Jason take her hand and she turned to exchange smiles with him. She leaned her other elbow on Leo's shoulder and chuckled as he grinned and bumped his arm against Reyna's, forcing her to smile in return. Percy wrapped an arm around Annabeth and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. Hazel and Frank beamed at each other, and even Nico shook his head and smiled.

And as the elevator arrived and the doors opened, Piper looked around at her family and realized that she could never, ever have imagined a better one.

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><p><strong>*tear* Only one chapter left! This one was a lot of fun to write, actually. Especially the end. It's just so... I don't know, light-hearted, compared to how dark the rest of this was. It's a nice change :)<strong>

**Last chapter will be up on Monday - rain, shine, or sudden zombie apocalypse. Oh gosh it's gonna be so sad to see this go after an entire year... But all good things must come to an end, yadda yadda. How 'bout a review in the meantime?**

**See you all on Monday! Later days!**

**-oMM**


	54. LIV Piper

**This is it, guys. Welcome to the FINAL CHAPTER of this series! Wow, it feels weird to be posting this... Part of me kind of wanted to wait until the 23rd since that's exactly one year since I posted the first chapter of Blood and Sand, but that's a Saturday and the new season of Doctor Who starts so you know I'll have other things on my mind, haha. So INSTEAD I went with 8/18, which is, of course, also a special day in the PJO fandom. And to throw in the element of inception, this chapter actually takes place on August 18th. Go figure.**

**So here it is, everybody - THE END. Really. The actual conclusion. I'll have the usual notes at the end - be sure to check 'em out before we say goodbye.**

**Here we go, guys! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>LIV<br>PIPER**

The weeks following the end of the Shadow War were some of Camp Half-Blood's busiest. There were cabins to rebuild, fields to repair, weapons to remake—a whole list of post-war renovations that needed doing. With so many people, though, things moved along at an effective rate. Everyone was willing to do their part to help out. Even the members who didn't live at camp devoted all the time they could. After all, the camp was all of their responsibility now.

The gods kept good on their promises to Annabeth, Jason, and Reyna and supplied them with whatever they needed, provided it was within their power. For the most part, though, the campers did the work themselves. It wasn't really discussed, but every time she volunteered for a project or watched someone else working, Piper knew why. The place was their home. Repairing it with their own hands was just something they had to do. If they let the gods do everything with magic, it wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't be theirs. This way, together they could make their new camp into something they could all be proud of.

Piper smiled at the thought as she strolled aimlessly past the new forge and through the slowly-returning strawberry fields on the afternoon of August eighteenth, two and a half weeks since the end of the war, watching a handful of Demeter kids plowing the northern sections. Katie Gardner was standing nearby, hand in hand with Travis Stoll as she supervised the work. She caught Piper's eye and they both waved, and with a smile Piper waved back, still glad to see them back on their feet and together again. Katie had recovered physically two days after the gods' council meeting, though she'd remained quiet and despondent until the following week, when her boyfriend had finally come out of his coma. Another week had passed since then, and though he was told to keep movement to a minimum he was no longer confined to the infirmary, which evidently he was extremely pleased about. According to his brother Connor, he'd hated being stuck in bed for so long.

Travis and Katie weren't the only ones who'd experienced recent recoveries, either. All of the minor injuries from the Battle of the Black Moon, as they'd begun calling it, had been healed, thanks to the tireless efforts of the Greek and Roman medics. Even Rachel Dare, their Oracle host, was up and about and just as friendly and lively as the first day she and Piper had met. When Erebos had been defeated and the darkness had gone, her condition had begun to improve almost immediately. After another day, she'd finally woken up, saying she felt good as new, as though nothing had ever happened at all. Will Solace, who'd been observing her during her illness, was completely baffled by the whole thing. Piper remembered Annabeth hypothesizing once that Rachel's deterioration had been due to the darkness' clouding of the Oracle's sight, which in turn affected its host body. She supposed it didn't matter now whether that had been the case or hadn't. All that mattered was that Rachel was back to normal.

Beyond the strawberry fields used to be the camp's western border. But now, the border had been expanded roughly half a mile to make room for a whole slew of new living areas—a combination of cabins and barracks. At all hours of the day, people could be seen out here, laying stones on what would soon be a road or gathering building materials and measuring plots of land according to the Athena kids' construction and placement blueprints. As Piper approached the east end of the road, she spotted a group of Ares campers (assisted by Argus, the camp's many-eyed security detail) hauling piles of wooden paneling to a flattened plot of land on the roadside that had been roped off—Kendall Donelson, the kid with the scar whom Piper had showed around the camp a few weeks ago, among them. She'd been a bit surprised to learn that he'd been claimed by his father during the Battle of the Black Moon, but all in all he seemed to fit in well with his new cabin mates. He'd settled into life at camp rather well, and was putting just as much effort into renovations as anyone.

Farther down the halfway-completed road, the ground was still wild and uneven. Plans dictated that it would one day be filled by a Roman coliseum and a few temples to the Roman gods. For now, though, priorities were focused on building proper living areas, and as such the space was left open for the time being and had thus become the temporary playground for Benny and Mrs. O'Leary, the camp's two giant hellhound mascots. In fact, if Piper squinted, she could just barely see them there now, two black shadows running in circles around each other. She chuckled to herself, thinking that the two of them were rather like the rest of the camp's residents—happy and carefree with no lingering threats looming over their shoulders. It was the sort of realization that gave Piper an odd feeling of warmth, like sunlight was threading itself through her muscles and relaxing her body.

In a little while, Piper and her cabin mates were scheduled to begin cleaning and organizing the mess hall, half of the pavilion over which had been demolished and had yet to be cleared as everyone had been eating around the campfire every night. She still had some time until then, though, so with no other plans she turned and started ambling toward the stables, not wanting to disturb the people working on the new living quarters. As she neared, she noticed quite a few children out and about, playing with the pegasi near the stables and the fields. It was great to see them laughing and having fun; there hadn't been many small children before the war, but when the Romans had moved in, the surviving families from New Rome had added to that number. It was just another factor that made the camp feel more like home—more like a safe place for people like them to just live their lives. Sure, they'd have to work hard to keep the border around the camp strong and effective. But it was worth it, easily. And with everyone working together, they were confident that it could be done.

"Piper! Hey, Piper!"

Piper shook her head and looked around as she heard her name, coming slowly out of her distracted thoughts. Nearby, two small boys with identical caramel-colored hair were standing beside a sleek, white pegasus and feeding her handfuls of berries. They were both grinning and waving at Piper, and she smiled as she recognized them as the brothers who'd arrived at camp on the same day as Kendall—Grant and Nathan Parker.

"Hey, guys," she said brightly as she approached them. "What are you up to?"

"We wanted to help, so Miranda asked us to feed the horses," Grant replied as Nathan held out his berries as evidence. Piper's smile grew. It seemed that even the kids were kept busy nowadays. And what was more, they appeared excited to have their own jobs to fulfill.

"Well, looks like you're doing a great job," Piper told them as the white pegasus whinnied happily, scooping the berries from Nathan's hand.

After a beat, Grant frowned up at Piper. "You seem sad," he said.

Piper blinked in mild surprise. "What do you mean?"

He exchanged a look with his brother and shrugged. "I don't know, you just seem sad. Like you lost something."

Piper felt her breath catch momentarily in her throat, her smile faltering. It was true, they'd lost a lot to the war. One of her siblings was dead, and others had been hurt and almost killed as well. A few of her friends had even temporarily died, giving her some of the worst scares of her life. She'd been focusing on work, staying positive and throwing her efforts into repairing what had been destroyed. But sometimes when she looked at all that had changed, it hurt to remember the way things used to be. The changes they were going through brought a mixture of good and bad, and it was difficult to ignore either one.

"Maybe you're right," Piper admitted. "I guess the things I've lost… Well, I'm still trying to accept the fact that they won't turn up again."

"But that's why we're making new stuff, right?" Grant replied, stepping up to a dark brown pegasus and offering it some purple berries. "'Cause when you lose things, that's the best way to remember them."

"Like that time I lost my favorite teddy, remember, Grant?" Nathan added, looking at his brother with his blue eyes wide. "Dad said it got left in the hotel after a game once, and he bought me a new one. I missed the old one, but it made me less sad 'cause now I had a new friend. If I'd never lost the first one, I never would'a got the second one, right?" His eyes rose to look at Piper and he smiled. "So you just need to find somethin' new that makes you happy. Then you won't be sad anymore."

Piper couldn't help a heartfelt smile as a comforting warmth swelled in her chest. How was it that these two little boys knew exactly what to say to make her feel better? It was a lot like the empathy reading ability she'd used on Octavian, actually—the one Mitchell had told her children of Aphrodite often possessed.

At that thought, something stirred in her heart. She studied Grant and Nathan's eyes and somehow she suddenly knew—they were like her. She may have been imagining it, but she could swear she heard her mother's voice in her head—_They're right, you know. How about two new brothers to bring you that happiness?_ She may have lost one sibling, but at the same time she'd gained two new ones. Maybe they had a point—the things she'd gained really could help her move on from the things she'd lost.

"You guys are really smart, you know that?" she said, reaching out to ruffle both their hair. Nathan laughed and Grant tried to dodge her with a grin. She decided not to tell them yet about their parentage—heck, maybe if she was lucky, she could get Aphrodite to come tell them herself. She'd been pleased enough with Piper the last time they'd spoken at the gods' council meeting. If that hadn't worn off yet, maybe a favor wouldn't be out of the question.

"Well, I'll let you get back to work," Piper said. "Wouldn't want to get caught slacking off, now, would you?" They smiled and waved, bidding her goodbye as she started away from them. Near the opposite end of the stables, though, she slowed to a stop when a flash of movement caught her eye—a pure black pegasus leaping high into the air and spreading its wings, shaking its mane in apparent excitement. Below it, she saw Percy smack a hand to his forehead as the two girls on either side of him giggled with delight. When the pegasus landed and cantered up to them, Percy glared at it and said something Piper couldn't hear from where she stood. It didn't seem to mind, though, as the girls—two kids a bit older than Grant and Parker, somewhere between the ages of ten and thirteen, who were obviously sisters—smiled and applauded. The younger girl stepped forward to pet its mane while the older latched tightly onto Percy's arm and started talking with what looked like inhuman speed. He smiled a bit uncomfortably and tried in vain to free himself as the horse nickered in amusement. When he shook his head in exasperation and looked away, his eyes suddenly met Piper's and after a brief look of thought they clearly registered one unmistakable message: _Help!_

Suppressing a smile, Piper jogged down the hill toward them. "Percy!" she called out. "There you are! I've been looking for you. Connor Stoll managed to drop an entire stock of iron nails into the canoe lake. I told them if they don't hurry and get them out, they'll rust, but obviously they're having a tough time finding them all. Think you could use your magic sea powers and help us out?"

"Yeah, sure thing," Percy said with a grin, looking obviously relieved.

"We wanna come watch!" the younger girl said immediately.

"Yeah," her sister agreed. "Sounds cool."

"Actually, you know," Percy argued evasively, "Blackjack's saying he wants a little exercise. Why don't you guys take him for a ride around the camp?" The pegasus neighed loudly and Percy shot it a pointed look.

"Ooh, really?" the younger girl said. "Yes!" That seemed enough to keep the sisters occupied, and at last Percy was able to separate himself from the one clinging to his arm and follow Piper up the hill toward the arena.

"Thanks, Piper," he said with a heavy sigh as soon as they were out of earshot of the stables. "You're a lifesaver."

"Consider it my birthday gift," Piper joked. "Happy eighteenth."

"I'll take it," Percy replied with a laugh. "Thanks."

"So what was that about, anyway? Got yourself a couple admirers?"

Percy grimaced, and Piper tried not to laugh as she noticed his ears redden just barely. "New Dionysus girls," he explained. "Tyler and Lydia. Annabeth, Grover, and me brought them in a few weeks ago, and they kind of won't leave me alone."

"Yeah, I get that. Nice bling," she added with a smirk, nodding to the rope made of flowers that was hanging around his neck. "Very manly."

He laughed weakly. "Yeah… Lydia made it for me. Heard it was my birthday, you know? What was I supposed to do, refuse?" He made a face, but Piper noticed with a small smile that even though they were well out of sight of the sisters, he didn't remove the gift.

As they neared the arena, weaving their way around small crowds of people, Piper almost ran smack into somebody who was striding very quickly toward the forest. As it was, she jerked backward to avoid a collision and instead bumped into Percy, causing him to stumble sideways as a hand swiftly grabbed Piper's arm to steady her.

"Whoa," Percy said in surprise as he regained his balance. "Slow up, Leo, where's the fire?"

Leo let go of Piper and smirked. "Is that a trick question?" Percy shrugged in admission and Piper laughed. "In all seriousness, though, I've got some major work to do before the party tonight. Make sure you're there, 'cause I'm promising you guys the best fireworks show you've ever seen—bar none. Trust me, it's gonna be epic." The excited gleam in his dark eyes made Piper a little uneasy and a brief vision of all their reparation work going up in smoke—literally—flashed across her mind.

"We're, uh… looking forward to it," she said with a tentative smile. "Just don't go too crazy, okay?"

"Who, me?" Leo replied innocently, raising his eyebrows. "Too crazy? Impossible."

"There you are!" an irritated voice interrupted, and Piper turned to see Reyna dodge around a group of gaggling girls and approach them with her glaring eyes fixed on her boyfriend, who grinned in that same air of innocence that convinced no one. Hands on her hips, Reyna said pointedly, "What part of 'minimal activity' do you not understand? Do you _want_ to re-break that leg?"

"Aw, chill out, Reyna," Leo insisted airily. "You know I was getting stir-crazy on those crutches. Besides, I'm totally fine now! Good as new, see?" He stomped his right foot on the ground a few times—and subsequently flinched in pain. Reyna raised an eyebrow as if to say, _You were saying?_ and Leo shot her a slightly sheepish smile.

Rather than argue anymore, though, Reyna sighed. "Alright, alright. But do me a favor and stay where I can see you, okay? That way if you hurt yourself you'll have someone to drag you back to the infirmary."

Leo gave her a half-handed salute. "Yes, ma'am." Reyna rolled her eyes, but when Leo stepped up and slid his hand into hers the corners of her mouth twitched into a small smile. "I mean it, though, guys," Leo added to Percy and Piper. "Nine o'clock. Shoreline. Be there. And hey, Percy—groovy necklace. Diggin' the flower power." He held up a peace sign and flashed a friendly grin as he and Reyna set off for the forest, disappearing into the trees.

"I worry about him sometimes," Piper said, shaking her head.

"Reyna'll keep an eye on him," Percy said assuredly. "She's pretty good at keeping people in line."

Piper smiled unconsciously, thinking to herself that Leo and Reyna's relationship was another addition to the list of good things the war had given them. She loved seeing her best friend so happy, and anyone could tell that Reyna's mood was much improved lately as well.

"That's good," Piper replied. "I'd really like to survive tonight, personally."

Percy smirked. "That makes two of us."

That night they'd all agreed to take a camp-wide break from working to properly celebrate the end of the war, in conjunction with Percy's eighteenth birthday. They were planning a big dinner around the campfire in the middle of the cabins, which would probably include singing and story-telling and all the things their camp used to be known for, ending with a fireworks show down by the beach (considering they hadn't been able to put on their usual Fourth of July display). For that night, they were all going to relax and enjoy the fact that they'd won. And if Piper was honest, she was really looking forward to it.

They ran into Annabeth and Lacy near the cabins, and Piper bid her friends goodbye as she grabbed Lacy and headed for the mess hall to get started on their assignment. There were still a few hours to go before they got their time off, and until the evening came she would continue to work just as hard as everyone else, Grant and Nathan's words about losing and finding still echoing in her mind and serving as the most perfect motivation she could imagine.

-ψ-ψ-ψ-

Leo's fireworks didn't disappoint.

Piper had seen plenty of fireworks displays in her life, but none of them even came close to the ones she watched that night. The show lasted about forty-five minutes, which should have gotten boring after a while. But it was anything but. Normally, the Hephaestus cabin's fireworks depicted moving scenes of great battles and events in Greek history (and Roman, starting last summer). This time, though, it was a tribute to the members of Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter.

In the sky, Piper watched fiery, sparkling representations of things her fellow campers had done over the years—Gaea attacking the camp, and the Greeks and Romans uniting to defend it; Annabeth fighting Arachne beneath Rome; Percy and Jason dueling while possessed by eidolons in Kansas; the first time Leo found Festus in the woods; herself battling the giant Enceladus, who held her father captive; Frank as a giant elephant, barreling through Gaea's monster army in Greece; Hazel riding Arion in midair, hair flying and sword held high.

Leo had evidently done his research, because some of the scenes Piper found out had happened before they'd arrived at camp a year and half ago. She watched these with heightened interest, having only heard the stories before but never seen firsthand what had happened—in firework form or otherwise. She saw Clarisse La Rue slaying a drakon; a tall guy with huge muscles whom she assumed must have been Charles Beckendorf, the previous Hephaestus counselor, destroying an enemy cruise ship in a fiery, green explosion; the Golden Fleece drawing Thalia Grace from the pine tree at the crest of Half-Blood Hill; Chiron heading a battle in the woods near Zeus's Fist, the former entrance to the Labyrinth; her own predecessor, Silena Beauregard, leading a group of Ares campers into a fight; and Percy, Annabeth, and Grover fighting the Titan Lord Kronos. And for the finale, what played was a gigantic, rapid-fire succession of short sequences from the Shadow War—everything from the eclipse to the Battle of the Black Moon, ending with Erebos disappearing in a brilliant burst of light that nearly blinded everyone watching. It was absolutely incredible—exactly what they all needed to celebrate the end of the war and the fact that they were still standing strong. It was a reminder of everything they'd been through—everything they'd overcome. And not a single person wasn't smiling and laughing by the end of it as they reminisced with their friends.

After the show, people began to slowly trickle off to bed. Piper was one of the few who stayed; she was seated comfortably on the beach next to Jason, leaning on his shoulder with his arm around her back. It felt so good to just sit and relax, surrounded by the people she loved with nothing immediately threatening their security.

"Not that I'm trying to get out of work," she said lightly after a while of silently listening to the waves, "but I kind of wish this night could last at least a few more days, you know?"

Jason chuckled. "I hear you," he agreed.

On his other side, Leo straightened suddenly from where he'd been lounging on the sand and leaned around Jason. "So did I tell you, or what? I'd like to see another fireworks display in history top _that_."

With a soft laugh, Piper admitted, "You were right. It was… amazing. Really." That felt like an understatement, but Leo didn't seem to take it as such. He grinned at Piper, tugging at the tool belt around his waist—the one his father had given him as a gift—and looking rather proud.

Reyna, who'd been lying beside Leo, sat up and shook her head. "Don't encourage him," she warned. "Next thing you know, this'll be a nightly occurrence. And he'll try to outdo himself every time."

Piper laughed again, a bit louder this time. "Safe bet."

Leo raised an eyebrow at Reyna. "That sounds like a challenge," he said, bumping his shoulder against hers. She shook her head and bumped him back.

"You're gonna run out of material before long," Annabeth pointed out from Piper's other side. She was sitting sideways, hands absently brushing through Percy's hair as he lay on the beach with his head in her lap. "You pretty much just covered all the exciting things that have ever happened to us."

"Guess we'll just have to rack up a few more impressive accomplishments," Percy decided with a wry grin.

"If that means another war," Frank put in from where he sat just up the beach from Percy and Annabeth, "then count me out. I'm fine with a nice, peaceful life."

Leo twisted around to look at him. "Come on, Zhang, where's your sense of adventure? Aren't you descended from the god of war?"

Frank rolled his eyes and leaned back on his hands. "Don't remind me."

"Your father's proud of you, Frank, remember?" Hazel said matter-of-factly with a smile, linking her arm with Frank's. "We all are."

"Either way," said Nico, who was lying on his back next to Hazel with his arms crossed under his head, staring up at the night sky, "we should probably lay off the fireworks for a while. Unless we want to alert every monster and mortal in the area to our presence."

"Always the sensible thinker, aren't you, Nico?" Leo said. "Looking out for the greater good while the rest of us try to have some fun."

"Somebody has to," Nico replied simply.

"He's probably right, though," Annabeth admitted. "We're trying to focus on repairs. The last thing we need right now is an attack."

At that thought, all of them fell into silence. Piper didn't want to think about the possibility of their being attacked. But the fact of the matter was that it had happened before, and she knew that despite the few peaceful weeks they'd had it would happen again. Plus, with so many of them in the same place, the chances of their being found had to be greater than before. But at the same time, with all of them together, maybe they'd be okay. Maybe it was better this way, no matter the extra risk.

As if sharing the same thoughts, Percy spoke up finally in a steely voice, "We'll protect this place."

"All of us," Jason added. "No matter what happens."

Piper smiled, leaning closer to him. "Together."

As Jason tightened his grip on her waist, Piper let her eyes travel over her friends as she remembered what Annabeth had said the day after the Battle of the Black Moon. _Whatever happens, one thing's for sure. We face it together. As a family._ They'd all been through so much together in a few short years, and Piper—who'd learned to recognize all forms of love, no matter how hidden—knew that that was exactly what existed between them. She trusted these people with more than just her life—she trusted them with the lives of everyone she knew, everyone she cared about. She knew without a doubt that her family would protect each other no matter what the opposition. She didn't want to have to fight anymore, but that didn't mean she wouldn't. After all, that was what you did when you had things worth fighting for. Sometimes it was easy, and sometimes it was hard. But each and every time, it was worth it.

Because Camp Half-Blood—no, Camp Lumina was their home, whether they chose to live there or not. It was where they belonged. And for as long as they could help it, it would always be there—their brightest light in the darkness.

**-ψ-ψ-ψ-  
>THE END<br>-ψ-ψ-ψ-  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>IT'S DONE! AT LAST! AFTER A LONG, CRAZY YEAR IT'S FINALLY DONE!<strong>

**I swear, this thing is like my freaking magnum opus. Together these books total almost 300,000 words. That's INSANE. The longest single plot I've ever written, and probably will ever write. I can't believe I pulled it off. Seriously. And just in my spare time between my real job and other commitments. What the hell is wrong with me? Haha XD**

**So anyway, things I need to say:**

**Firstly, a huge, HUGE THANK YOU to ALL OF YOU for reading, and a HUGER THANK YOU to all the regular reviewers! Really, 400 reviews or whatever we're on now is the most I've ever gotten for a fanfic. True, this thing's been ridiculously long, but still. It wouldn't have been anywhere near as much fun without all of you guys and your awesome words of encouragement and, sometimes, (justified) frustration, haha. Yes, I know I tend to make things a bit on the dramatic side. But it all worked out in the end, see? So THANKS SO MANY BUNCHES for sticking with me! I love you all to bits :D**

**Now, just because this story's over, that certainly doesn't mean you've seen the last of me. For any of you following my _Bloodlust_ trilogy, _Eagle Eye_ is going to continue on at a (hopefully) normal pace, plus it'll have one more (yet untitled) sequel afterward. AND those of you who've read my one-shot _Snare_ will be glad to know, I've got the longer, chaper-version of that which I've been talking about forever in the works as well. It'll be called "Amber Ashes," be set about 5 years after the Giant War, and should show up sometime over the next couple months. So ALL LEYNA FANS - get ready for it, because it's totally happening ;)**

**SO AGAIN - thank you all so, so much for reading this stupidly long series! I hope you like the ending as much as I do! If you've had enough of my antics and aren't reading any of my other fics, then fare thee well, my friends. It's been an awesome ride!**

**So this is the _Darkness Falls_ duology tuning out for good! For the last time, guys - LATER DAYS!**

**-oMM**


	55. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**SURPRISE! I'm still here, haha. I meant to note this yesterday, but it was a busy day so I didn't really have time.**

**So if any of you follow me then you may already know this, but for those of you who don't, thanks to a few requests I've decided to do a one-shot series that goes along with this duology. It's not essential to the plot, of course, just something fun for readers of this series who wanted to see a little more. I'm planning to do a combination of events during the duology from other character's POVs or that we didn't really get to focus much on, and also a few new ones that take place after the ending.**

**Good news, too, I'll be taking requests, so if there's anything you guys particularly wanted to see more of in this series or anything of the sort, just let me know and I'll do my best to write it out for you :D**

**The series is called "Dusk to Dawn" and I posted the first one-shot yesterday, which features Reyna's battle with Nyx in Death Valley during War of Shadows. Head on over to my profile for the link if you're interested!**

**Thanks, everybody! Hope you guys enjoy this nice little side-journey to a story we all thought was over and done with!**

**Later days!**

**-oMM**


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